“Apple Inc.’s Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad, people with knowledge of the situation said, as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive against rivals such as Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. that are offering smaller, less-expensive alternatives to the iPad,” Lorraine Luk reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“Two of the people said the smaller tablet will have a 7.85-inch liquid-crystal display with a lower resolution compared with the latest iPad model that came out in March,” Luk reports. “South Korea’s LG Display Co. and Taiwan’s AU Optronics Corp. last month began mass production of the LCD screens for the new device, they said.”
Luk reports, “In July, people familiar with the matter told the Journal that Apple’s suppliers were preparing to begin mass production of the smaller tablet in September.”
Read more in the full article here.
as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive against rivals such as Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
And eat crow on the 7″ form factor which Apple ridiculed not so long ago. The beat goes on. Several co-workers have the new Nexus tab and indeed it is light, speedy and frankly renders the larger tabs redundant.
You know Gary, that’s great, really it is. I’m sure the Nexus 7 is a wonderful piece of engineering. A marvel to hold and to use. The thing is, it’s sold by Google and runs Android. These are two huge marks against it. I don’t wear shirts that advertise who made them, and I don’t buy products that turn the tables on me, making me the product. I’m sure there are a lot of people who do and will continue to do so. People with a modicum of intelligence also are not interested in toting a device that allows the kinds of malware that passes for software that comprises a large bulk of the applications available on Google Play or whatever it’s called. I don’t think anyone at Apple is eating crow. Apple has a way of denigrating many ideas which it later incorporates into their products. It helps to keep the Mole on his toes.
+1
You don’t get it. It is called misdirection. Just like Jobs said that no one wanted to watch video on a small screen. Right before they launched the iPod with video.
“tries to stay competitive??” That’s like saying BMW is trying to stay competitive with Yugo. Oh yeah, and using the word “rivals” for Amazon & Google would indicate some level of parity in the marketplace. Try using the more appropriate phrase – “hangers on” or perhaps “wanna-bes.”
Lookout Mama there’s a big ship coming down the river
Hot: Higher sales
Not: Thinner margins
Doubt if Apple will go with wafer margins on this or any product.
I’m looking forward to this one, not least for the prospect of yet more weight reduction and my work travelbag shrinking again!
I’m loading up my BB gun and going out to shoot some crow later this evening when they’re a-roosting on the trees.
And then I’m going to bake me some crow pie seasoned with garnishings of pepper and red hot Mexican chillis, prepared to the tune of evil maniacal laughter.
And when they’re baked well and good, I’m going to serve them to Derek Currie and all the commentators on here who said that the iPad mini was but the stuff of dreams.
Lefty, +1 🙂
That was a very lucid description of how to fix appetizing crow. Well done. Can the faithful have some as well?
Whoops sorry, the reply below was meant for you. Cheers.
That’s all well and good, BLN. But you might want to save a few slices of that pie for yourself.
I also need a slice of that pie. I posted my belief that Apple would maintain the same aspect ratio on the iPhone when enlarging it from a 3.5″ to 4″ display. The numbers indicated that they could do so with little change to the overall iPhone dimensions. The iPhone 5 was released and I was wrong.
For the life of me I don’t understand why this rumor persists. A “lower resolution” display? Since when does Apple go backwards?
iPad mini is not going to happen.
A smaller screen at the same pixel density would still be a retina display while also being lower resolution. Less screen real estate = less pixels = lower resolution.
Of course. The only criterion is that the best parts of the crow, the feet & beak, are left to the doubters to stick up their craw.
Deep-fried gizzard is the best part. Do crows have gizzards?
They’ll sell a billion of these.
Usually when the WSJ says an Apple product is imminent they are right. Their claims are also typically close to the formal announcement and tend to be more accurate as a result.
BTW SJ said a 7 inch tablet was not good because the # of pixels was too low. The retina display changes all of that.
It is possible the retina display will be jettisoned for the mini to lower costs and differentiate I’d further from the full size iPad.. Additional component savings can also be utilized to this end…. Because of Apples ecosystem and OS, components equal to existing “minis” will keep the price point where it needs to be and buyers will flock to this device to get the benefit of Apples “complete” tablet experience.
I’ve got a smaller iPad. It’s called the iPhone 5.
If you’re happy with your iPhone 5, stick with it. No one is going to rip it from your hands. There are millions of iPhone 4 and 4S owners out there who would like a smaller form factor iPad that doesn’t lock them into a two year carrier contract. Android dwellers even who might tote an Android phone but would prefer a smaller, cheaper iPad. Why lose sales to this class of people just because an iPhone fulfils your needs.
I’m certainly happy with my iPad ‘mini’, aka my iPod Touch. And good golly gosh: It costs more than the lo$$ leader ~7″ OtherPads.
Liquid Crystal? Going back to the nineties? Sounds like BS.
All of Apple’s devices currently use LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays). Eventually Apple will likely use a fully emissive technology like OLEDs, but the advancements in LCD technologies have kept them in the game for now.
hasta la vista mircosoft, HP, Acer, Toshiba, Asus… I’d say goodbye to the non-apple tablet market, as well, but they never really got started.
Vacuumware: It resides entirely inside your mind.