Wang and Tsai report that Apple will offer two tablet models, “one of which will have a 10.6-inch TFT LCD panel while the other will have a 9.7-inch OLED panel. LG Display currently is making OLED panels using its 4.5G production line and LG Display’s five-year US$500 million panel purchasing contract with Apple includes supply of OLED panels, the sources pointed out.”
The retail price of the 9.7-inch OLED panel model is said by DigiTimes’ sources to be around US$2,000. “The price could be more flexible if bundled with telecom providers’ 3G services,” Wang and Tsai report. “Meanwhile, the 10.6-inch LCD panel-based Apple tablet PC is expected to priced in the US$800-1,000 range.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Twice as much for half the screen real-estate? Sounds like a deal to me! OK, the smaller model’s screen is not only smaller – and more pocketable – but it is a newer, and better, technology.
Since this has not yet been “announced”, is t valid to say it has been “delayed”?
I don’t want to wait any longer!
I was hoping to get one in January 2010. But, I would rather get an even better Mac tablet later in the year.
Would a 2 to 6 month delay have really made a difference in today’s iPhone 3Gs? No. Apple will ship it when it is ready and not before! Dell would! Microsoft would! Not Apple. That is why people keep buying the very best and keep coming back to Apple!
How exciting! A rumoured delay of a rumoured product!
Also, FWIW, it only needs to be on store shelves by September to meet the back-to-school rush. Announced at MWSF (will there BE one this year?) for an August-September ship date sounds quite reasonable. The only product lines that might be hurt by such a long lead-in – other than all the other tablets/netbooks/ultra-compact notebooks out there – would be the MB and the MBA. And … not so much, I suspect. The MBP is a different market, as are the iPhone and the touch.
In the end the initial offering will be 1 model. The technological capabilities are changing by the month. Fast forwards in abilities. One would expect delays since advancements are right around the corner. When it finally debuts it will be $800, 1 model, and will change the world. Will revolutionize learning and school and be the catapult into the Individual Creative Content Age and jumpstart the global economy.
Does anyone remember the Cube? Steve Jobs won’t make that mistake again…it was priced above its audience…yet is still as revolutionary as anything out there to this day. Some great products don’t work, and a $2000 OLED Tablet doesn’t have an audience for any volume sales.
Thanks for the false stock-dropping rumor yet again.
“The retail price of the 9.7-inch OLED panel model is said by DigiTimes’ sources to be around US$2,000.”
So the 9.7″ OLED model has a $2,000.00 screen? Does that mean it’ll be double the price of the 10.6″ LCD model when they’re released?
This doesn’t make any sense.
This is easy. SJ announces the Apple tablet in Jan 2010. The LCD model with WiFi, but no 3G goes on sale in Feb/Mar 2010 with pre-sales available immediately. The OLED + 3G model comes out 6 months later due to FCC review (just like the iPhone).
More likely to be a strategic decision to round up more deals, apps, and bundles to make it packed with more features you can’t get elsewhere, and blow away anything else that may be announced from competitors around that time, like making the Google netbook look like another yesterdays cheap laptop.
iStepchild,
Yes. Yes, I do vaguely remember this Cube thing that you speak of.
Apple hasn’t even confirmed building a tablet let alone delaying it, but that hasn’t stopped idiot analysts from already discussing pricing, marketing and options.
Dumber than the uninformed speculation and ignorance displayed in these forecasts is the blind following by idiot sheep readers who continue to give any credence to the fodder.
The deaf dumb and blind leading the blind…Tommy is king
Yeah, it’s really strange to claim that their would be two products of such similar size. Stranger still that anyone is believing it.
What should I buy next year?
Tablet or Quad-Core MacBook Pro????
I hate this kind of decisions!!!!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Of course the stock goes down.
Beware: DigiTimes is on of THE most unreliable sources in rumor monger land.
pure bs!
I can’t believe any screen with a wholesale price over $200 would be possible for inclusion in an iTab. I mean, think about it, if the screen is the most expensive component, and costs 50% of materials, that would make the device’s material cost over $400. If that is about half the final retail cost, as is typical with Apple products, because you have to factor in labor, marketing, shipping, R&D;, etc., then that would put retail pricing at over $800, which is right in the ballpark of what we are expecting. So, the screen can’t cost more than $200, and a rumored OLED of $2000 is just not possible, even if Apple were to get their substantial discount, for prepaying $500M to LG for screens.
Fake rumor. Apple producing two screen sizes?! I think not.
Daniel Dilger makes a really good case against OLED displays. The fact that they have so many problems in real world use compared to LCDs makes me believe that, whoever this rumor came from has no real idea what’s going on.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/09/14/from-oled-to-tegra-five-myths-of-the-zune-hd/
I think the whole OLED part is bullshit, which would mean it’s full steam ahead for the iBook/iTab/iSlate!
There is absolutely no need to use an OLED screen.
There’s no way Apple is going to make two tablets with only 1 inch difference in screen size and two different types of screens. That’s a colossal waste of resources.
Too many crossed wires in this “rumor” to be even remotely true.
To those (like KenC) who think a $2,000 OLED screen is not a reasonable option, I quote: “The retail price of the 9.7-inch OLED panel model is said by DigiTimes’ sources to be around US$2,000.” … my bolds. It is not the “screen” that costs $2,000 but the entire computer.
For those (like CYxodus) who think two screen sizes is unrealistic, I point out that Apple may not be able to make that $2,000 price point with a 10″ OLED screen! Though, they would save a little on less-lilliputian parts elsewhere.
Yet … here we are, talking about a hypothetical product as if it needs to follow certain sensible rules. Seriously? OK, let’s do this.
A 9″ to 13″ “tablet” would go up against the sub-$600 PC tablets already out there. While you can ask an “Apple Tax” of an extra $100-$200 for that, asking $2,000 isn’t going to fly. That puts it in the same market as the ultra-portables like the MBA. With what added bonus? Can you “pocket” a 9.7″ screen? Maybe in a ski parka!
OK. Done. Can we get back to real products, products from Apple or its more or less direct competition, now?
IF this is true, then I’ll have to wait til 2011 to get the second generation model. Never buy the first.
Wired magazine had a good take on this “story,” saying that it will only be available at the Atlantis Apple Store, which is staffed by unicorns.
How in the hell is a product that exists only in the minds of journalists and oft-malinged analysts supposed to be “delayed”? While I’m sure that Apple is developing something that might fit in with some or even many of the rumors going around, it’s ludicrous to start freaking out about whatever that product might be getting “delayed” from an imaginary release date.
This is why we need to teach critical thinking skills in school.