DISCUSSION

Apple's 'Resolutionary' New iPad Makes Its Debut

March 8, 2012Written by George Anderson

Apple unveiled its new iPad yesterday and so far the reviews seem very positive. (Note that Apple is not advancing the name from iPad 2 to iPad 3 but removing the number in the newer version.) The new tablet is faster than its predecessor, comes with a super high resolution Retina display, includes 4G connectivity and runs apps that make it perform more like a personal computer.

Before yesterday's dog and pony show by Apple, it has pretty much been a foregone conclusion that the iPad franchise will remain strong with the new launch. A recent survey by InMobi, for example, found that:

Twenty-nine percent of all respondents planned to buy the new model;
Fifty-four percent of respondents planning to buy the new iPad do not currently own a tablet device;
Sixty-five percent in the market for an iPad will consider buying one of the older models at a reduced rate.

Based on InMobi's findings, it also appears that Apple hit most of the key feature upgrades that consumers were looking for in the new iPad.

Fifty-seven percent wanted faster processing speed;
Forty-six percent sought a higher-quality screen;
Forty-three percent want 4G connectivity.

At prices that range from $499 for the base model to $829 for a 64GB version with 4G connectivity, the new iPad is still much more expensive than Amazon's Kindle Fire priced at $199. But as the InMobi research points out, there is a sizable market for discounted iPad 2 models and now that Apple has dropped the price range from $399 for the base to $529 for the 3G model, consumers will have a less expensive option.

Chris Jones, an analyst at Canalys, told Bloomberg News, "It will put pressure on those who are trying to undercut the iPad on price. The market has changed in the past few months with the arrival of Amazon."

Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research, told Bloomberg that the Kindle Fire has succeeded because of its low price, but also because it has an established sales channel through Amazon's website, which gives consumers access to a variety of entertainment and educational products.

"Tablets are about services," said Ms. Rotman Epps. "That's why Amazon has succeeded where others have failed."

Apple will soon have even more competition with tablets being developed operating on Windows 8. HP is among the companies expected to roll out new tablets running on the Microsoft operating system.

Matthew Yglesias, writing the MoneyBox blog on Slate, offered a different take. He wrote that Apple doesn't see the iPad as the dominant force in the tablet market, but rather a "major player" in the personal computer market.

"The emphasis," Mr. Yglesisas wrote, "is on a pattern of low-end disruptive change where steady incremental improvements to the iPad's capabilities turn it into a potential PC replacement for a larger and larger segment of the population."

In his introduction of the new model yesterday, Apple chief executive Timothy D. Cook mentioned that iPad sales in the last quarter were higher than that of PC models sold by any individual manufacturer, according to the New York Times.

Discussion Thread0