New Mini iPad Rumors: A Direct Competition for Windows 8?
There have been numerous reports before stating that Apple Inc. has plans of launching a "mini iPad" in the market. These rumors are resurfacing again as NetEase; a Chinese web portal revealed that Apple is indeed working on a new iPad.
According to the blog post, "six million units of the smaller tablet will hit shelves in late 2012". The price range for the mini iPad is set to be around US$299 to US$249. The source of the said blog post was from "Taiwan media reports" which indicates that Apple has placed orders to factories including Honhai Precision. Honhai Precision is operated by Foxconn- the firm being investigated by the Fair Labour Association.
There are also rumors speculating that mini iPad will have a 7.86-inch screen which is much smaller as compared to the new iPad which has a display size of 9.7-inches. This rumor came about from an article in Korea Times that Samsung has been supplying Apple with new LCD technology for a much smaller iPad model. In line with that, there were also reports before stating that Apple has purchased 7.85-inch panels from LG Display and AU Optronics which would supposedly be used for a mini iPad.
Many experts are speculating that the mini iPad is Apple's answer to the highly-anticipated Windows 8 tablets that will be launched this year. The selling price of the Windows 8 tablets is said to be in the same price range as Apple's mini iPad which can cause a great shift of power in Apple's tablet domination. Though that is the case, experts are saying that there is still Amazon's Kindle Fire to consider. If compared to Apple's mini iPad and Windows 8 tablet, the selling price of Kindle Fire is much cheaper and it has a bigger chance of dominating the tablet market.
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple was supposedly opposed to the idea of working on a min iPad. Though that is the case, the changing tablet scene could cause the company from reconsidering this idea. Despite these numerous rumors, Apple has not confirmed nor denied the probability of a mini iPad. If the rumors are supposedly true, this can change the whole tablet scene before the end of 2012.