Apple Inc. is planning to build a smaller and cheaper iPad tablet to go head to head against Google's Nexus, and may come out with it before yearend.
Bloomberg quoted two people with knowledge of the plans as saying the smaller iPad will have a screen measuring seven to eight inches, compared to the current iPad's 9.7-inch screen.
However, the report quoted one of the sources as saying the small size comes at a price - it will not have the high-resolution screen of the latest standard iPad .
Still, it will likely have a price close to Google’s Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon’s Kindle Fire - at about $199. By comparison, a standard iPad costs $499 to $829.
The report quoted Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., as saying the smaller but cheaper iPad may stop any inroad by competitors like Google and Microsoft dead in their tracks in the tablet market where iPad is currently king.
“It would be the competitors’ worst nightmare. The ball is in Apple’s court,” Wu told Bloomberg.
While Google’s Nexus 7 - manufactured by Asustek Computer Inc. - has a faster processor and better battery life than Amazon's Kindle Fire, it may find more challenge going up against a smaller iPad, Wu said.
This is because Apple has some 225,000 apps that have been tailored specifically for the current iPad.
Apple also has more than 360 retail stores where the iPad can be purchased and tested by consumers. Google said the Nexus 7 will be available only from its online store, while Microsoft will sell its tablets online and at its smaller chain of 20 stores.— TJD, GMA News
article source: gmanetwork.com
