Apple Inc. “is developing a new tablet with a 7.85-inch screen that is likely to sell for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad, with its 9.7-inch display, according to several people with knowledge of the project who declined to be named discussing confidential plans,” Nick Wingfield and Nick Bilton report for The New York Times. “The product is expected to be announced this year.”

“Apple’s plan for a tablet with a smaller screen is part of a textbook business strategy: to lure customers who want different sizes of tablets into the iPad product family, say analysts and technology industry executives,” Wingfield and Bilton report. “The strategy would most likely include devices with different prices and functions tailored to various uses, they say. The idea is to help Apple solidify its dominance in the tablet market even as the richest companies in the tech business are trying to figure out how to outflank Apple.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: The Wall Street Journal. Bloomberg. And, now, even The New York Times has sources. We’re rapidly exiting or, depending on your point of view, have already exited rumorville on a 7.85-inch tablet from Apple.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Dan K." for the heads up.]

Related articles:
Bloomberg: Apple preps smaller iPad, sources say – July 5, 2012
WSJ: Apple’s ‘iPad mini’ launch nears – July 5, 2012