“Analyst Ben A. Reitzes with Barclays Capital said in a note to investors on Tuesday that he believes it’s possible that Apple will keep the iPad 2 alive in two ways, even after a true ‘iPad 3’ is launched in early 2012,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“He sees Apple continuing to sell the current 16GB version of the iPad 2 at a lower price, as a new entry-level model much like the company currently does with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4,” Hughes reports. “In addition, Reitzes said it’s possible Apple could also introduce a faster iPad 2, which he dubbed an ‘iPad 2S,’ akin to the iPhone 4S. A so-called iPad 2S could include a faster processor and Siri integration, just like Apple’s latest iPhone.”
Hughes reports, “Reitzes said he believes Apple still plans to launch a full-fledged iPad 3 in the March timeframe. That product would differentiate itself from the hypothetical iPad 2S by featuring a high-definition Retina Display.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Oh, yeah, and it will come with your choice of iOS Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate!
Lol!!!
All of which will cost $29.
(or whatever)
Not a chance. It’s not how Apple operates. The older iPhones are only still on sale coz Apple still gets a high price through the network subsidies. That business model doesn’t apply to the iPad.
Disagree. Apple is perfectly capable of making a move like this. They don’t have to give away the iPad 2, they could charge $199 and put a cork in Amazon’s tablet plans.
My guess for iOS in 2012:
iPod touch $199
iPad mini $299
iPad 2 $399
iPad 3 $499
Apple Television $999 – 1999
There’s no way the iPad 2 will be $199 because Apple actually puts features into their products unlike Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
Ya…no. iPad mini when pigs fly
Waiting for the iPad 4D. It allows you to get that wasted Angry Birds time back.
I think Apple was originally as surprised as anyone that the iPhone 3GS continues to sell as well as it has, even alongside the iPhone 4 after iPhone 4s was released. After all, they are still selling a model that was released over 2 years ago. So it isn’t unreasonable to think that they might follow this model with the iPad.
That said, the biggest difference between the iPad and the iPhone is the lack of a required usage contract that would subsidize the price. Unless component costs have come down substantially or Apple is willing to let its margins erode, this plan makes less sense, especially as it begins to fragment the user experience and complicate marketing and supply and production chains. Apple has made that mistake in the past, but not recently.
Isn’t it great to be an analyst? How do you get that skate job anyways? I think they should be fired when they are wrong which is like 99.9% of the time wrt Apple.
+1
these analysts make my dog appear smarter.
The iPhone 4S uses the same processor as the iPad2 so why make an iPad2S to run Siri? Moron.
iPad 2S? not! However, I do expect the iPad 2 to continue at a lower price point. I also expect Siri to be available on both the iPad 2 and iPad 3 (and the iPhone 4) when the iPad 3 is released.
To deploy Siri on the iPad WiFi only would mean that it will need to provide some functionality when there isn’t any internet access. (iOS 5.2?)