Speculations posit that Apple would begin production of a 7.85-inch iPad tablet starting in spring and that the device may ship in summer. As the company is expected to introduce a higher resolution 10-inch iPad 3 in the spring, this suggests that Apple would be staggering the launches of its tablets in 2012. DigiTimes claims that the 7-inch offering is expected to launch before Q4 2012. Summer may be a likely candidate for launch if the company sticks with fall for any iPod and iPhone introductions.
A 7-inch model would help
Apple compete not only against Samsung, which had debuted its Galaxy Tab lineup
last year with the 7-inch Tab, but also against lower-cost offerings from
e-book retailers Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Both the Kindle Fire and Nook
Tablet have attracted a lot of buzz and attention, and Amazon’s debut 7-inch
Kindle Fire tablet with a dual-core CPU has generated a lot of consumer
interest, which the company has successfully converted into sales thanks to the
device’s $199 entry price point, which is less than half of what the
entry-level 10-inch iPad 2 costs at $500.
In the past, Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs had criticized the 7-inch
form factor, saying that it sacrificed too much to achieve portability. When
the original iPad had debuted, Apple had highlighted the on-screen keyboard,
noting that users can nearly touch-type on the tablet’s multitouch display.
With a 7-inch form factor, the screen size is reduced such that the typing
experience is less than desirable. However, those who prefer a balance of
usability–the 7-inch screen can still display a lot more information than a
4-inch smartphone–and portability will still prefer a 7-inch form factor over a
larger tablet as it can fit into a purse, bag, or even pocket more easily.
The problem with Apple’s
entry into the 7-inch market may have to do with cost. Amazon is said to be
selling its tablet at a loss in hopes of capturing sales later through consumer
purchases of goods and digital content through its Amazon.com store, which
hosts apps, music, movies, TV shows, videos, digital books, and a variety of
goods and merchandise. The Kindle Fire does sacrifice storage space–the tablet
is only available with just 8 GB of storage and relies on Amazon’s cloud
storage for more space–as well as RAM. It’s unclear if Apple will have to make
these sacrifices to come out with a tablet that can compete on cost.
A 7-inch model would serve
as a nice middle ground between Apple’s 3.5-inch phone and 9.7-inch tablet currently.
It would help Apple deflect competition from larger Android phone
offerings–like the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Note from Samsung–as well as
mid-range tablets from rivals.
Additionally, another
issue that Apple will have to face with introducing a 7- or 7.85-inch model is
fragmentation. With the new model, Apple will not only have support the HVGA
display of older iPhones, the Retina Display on the iPhone 4 and 4S models, and
the current iPad resolution, but the iOS-maker would also have to support the
newer resolutions of the 7-inch model as well as the higher resolution iPad 3.
That means that it would have to either work with developers to create native
and universal apps that would automatically scale to the varying resolutions,
or create functionality in iOS to scale and stretch apps to fit the varying
screens. Compatibility issues, updates of apps, and elegance of the end user
experience are all things Apple will need to consider.
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