Apple To Release Smaller Tablet?
It will reportedly be released before Christmas in a clear bid to keep competitors at bay.
| Posted Wednesday, July 4, 2012, at 4:30 PM
Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
The rumors seem to have been true. Apple is preparing to produce a smaller tablet, report Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. Bloomberg hears word that the smaller, cheaper iPad will be released in time for the Christmas shopping season and will have a screen “that’s 7 inches to 8 inches diagonally” but won’t be high-definition. The current iPad has a 9.7-inch high-definition screen.
The Wall Street Journal confirms the news with Apple’s suppliers in Asia, who are apparently getting ready to begin mass production of a smaller tablet in September. According to two sources, “the tablet’s screen will likely be smaller than eight inches.” CNET hears word the “iPad Mini” might have a 7.85-inch screen.
If true, the new product would clearly be a way for Apple to keep its dominance in the market, and ward off the competition from Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. One of the best ways for competitors to combat Apple was through price, with Google recently unveiling its $200 tablet, which the New York Times’ David Pogue called “a ground-shaking arrival.”
“It would be the competitors’ worst nightmare,” an analyst tells Bloomberg. “The ball is in Apple’s court.”
