According to The Daily, the much talked about iPad 3 with the rumored Retina display could go on sale for as low as $199 with a two year contract from carriers such as AT&T (this is probably the 16GB Wi-Fi version under discussion here). Currently, Apple does not allow any carrier to subsidize the rates of its tablet. The lowest costing 16GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi+3G is available for $629.99. Users purchase pay-as-you-go data plans from AT&T or Verizon and it works out well.
It’s not very likely that Apple will change its ways with the iPad 3 especially as the pricing and distribution isn’t causing it any harm. In fact, the iPad is as cheap as any other tablet (if not cheaper) with the same specs. If the $199 cost proves to be fact, Apple will be undercutting the competition in a big way.
According to The Daily, Apple and AT&T refused to comment on this piece of news. Not surprising since Apple is pretty closemouthed about unannounced products.
Tablets such as ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 are becoming favorites and HP has cut the price of the HP TouchPad to $400 permanently. Is this Apple’s strategy for beating the competition?
According to ABI Research, Android tablets now account for 20% of the tablet market though the heavyweight is still Apple’s iPad. None of the tablets released yet have been able to set themselves apart from iPad 2 and challenge its supremacy. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, though successful, can’t touch the numbers of iPad 2 units sold this year. The same goes for ASUS’ Eee Pad Transformer and Acer Iconia Tab A500. HP is trying to boost sales with discounts but even then it won’t come anywhere near Apple.
As far as Android devices go, ABI Research cites fragmentation as a main deterrent for the OS. As ABI Research Mobile Devices Group Director Jeff Orr states in his August 11 statement, “good user experiences and product response are needed to propel this market beyond the ‘early adopter” stage.”
Research firm IHS predicts that tablet shipments will reach 61.9 million units this year versus 19.7 million in 2010, driving the rise in adoption of Internet-enabled devices. The Internet is no longer for PCs alone with tablets, especially the iPad, playing an important role in homes and to some degree, enterprises.
With tablets featuring more notebook-like capabilities, the PC market is at risk. Apple’s iPad is risking not just Windows PCs but also its own Mac, though COO Tim Cook says by not as much. With advancing technology, iPad could soon overrun PCs and Macs altogether for consumers. Android tabs will get there too but not after a lot more work is done on the software front.
[via tablets-planet, eweek]
