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iPad mini/Air Central
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Is the thinking that the iPhone 5 is the first thing to launch here? Or is it possible that the smaller iPad get launch in August or early September?
My WAG is late Oct to early Nov.
cheers
JohnG -
Is the thinking that the iPhone 5 is the first thing to launch here? Or is it possible that the smaller iPad get launch in August or early September?
If an iPad mini was launching in Sep we would have heard more noise in the supply chain and would have a few more components floating around IMO.. Foxconn was recently hiring to expand capacity at the Chengdu so I would lean toward late Oct announce ship for Black Friday. Will kill demand for Nexus, Kindle Fire and Microsoft Surface. If Apple can kill demand about the time their competitors put in big orders with their box makers, it is a double whammy. Not only do you steal the customer, but you put a hole in your competitors balance sheet. If I was betting they are waiting on Sharp’s IGZO to ramp
[ Edited: 04 August 2012 12:11 PM by pats ]In June, Sharp shipped approximately 100,000 IGZO panels and the number is expected to increase to 200,000 in July. In addition, sources have received information that Sharp will expand its IGZO panel production by constructing a new plant in Guishan, southern China to meet increasing orders.
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It better be one serious rampup - like an order of magnitude higher. 200,000 a month, or even double that is nowhere near enough.
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adamthompson32
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Wow, wow and wow. Very much disagree. If there in a 7 (7.85?) inch iPad, it will get a launch event. I would assume this to be true in any case, but it is crucial that Apple distinguishes the 7.85 inch and the 9.7 inch form factors from one another. The launch event is the ideal way to do this.
The iPad Mini will launch at an event, there’s little question in my mind about that.
Maybe as an add-on for another product launch but I can’t see it being the main attraction at a launch event. Then again, the market for it is probably going to be humungous so I could be wrong. I just don’t think Apple needs to do anything for it. Due to its low BOM and corresponding low ASP it has the potential to be bigger than “regular iPad” pretty darn quickly.
If I can get these things for $250 or so I can justify buying one for pretty much anyone as a birthday or Christmas gift.
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Is the thinking that the iPhone 5 is the first thing to launch here? Or is it possible that the smaller iPad get launch in August or early September?
Jim Dalrymple of The Loop confirmed the September 12 day for the phone launch and he’s never been wrong yet. He DID NOT mention the iPad in his confirmation.
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Exactly.
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Thanks, Steve. -
Jim quoted the part about the iPhone and left out the part about the iPad. But he also did not say “Nope.” to an iPad Mini as part of the event.
I finally listened to The Tech Night Owl podcast with Dalrymple as guest and Jim explicitly refused to say “Nope.” to an iPad Mini. He reiterated that people would be very happy with what Apple announces in September.
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I was gonna get around to listening to that Drew - and still will. Thanks for the summary!
The Bearded One, as he is called in some circles, knows of what he speaks. Sounds like it’s gonna be a very good September event.
[ Edited: 08 August 2012 04:12 AM by Mav ]
Even though several pundits are polishing their iPad mini non-Retina disappointment articles this very minute. 
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Thanks, Steve. -
Condensed quotes and paraphrase, because I’m not fastest transcriber no matter how good the coffee is.
Gene Steinberg: Nobody knows outside of Apple what’s going to happen, so let’s speculate.
Jim said : As long as Apple can get the (rumored iPad) into a form factor that does not compromise the user experience, I think its a given that Apple comes out with something at those price points ( $ 299 base price)
Gene Steinberg:.... It may come out this fall or it may not. Apple is Apple.
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Condensed quotes and paraphrase, because I’m not fastest transcriber no matter how good the coffee is.
Gene Steinberg: Nobody knows outside of Apple what’s going to happen, so let’s speculate.
Jim said : As long as Apple can get the (rumored iPad) into a form factor that does not compromise the user experience, I think its a given that Apple comes out with something at those price points ( $ 299 base price)
Gene Steinberg:.... It may come out this fall or it may not. Apple is Apple.
Thanks for that.
My biggest concern is that the 7(.85) inch tablet has to serve a specific need not met by the 9.7 inch tablet. The larger the tablet size, the more useful it is but the closer it is to the existing 9.7 inch tablet and the more it loses the benefits of being small, light and pocketable or “purseabe”.
Here’s the thing. Steve Jobs was great at defining the parameters of a product. If Apple can, in one sentence, explain the crucial difference between the 7(.85) inch and the 9.7 inch tablet, then Apple will clean up with the 7(.85) inch form factor.
If they can’t do that, then they shouldn’t mess with the smaller tablet. Contrary to popular belief, no one has yet proved that the 7 inch form factor is viable. No Android tablet made it work. Sales of the Kindle Fire rose like a rocket and then dropped like a rock. The Nexus 7 looks good but we have no sales numbers and it’s being given away at cost.
We’ll see. Like everybody else, I love getting packages out from under the Apple Christmas tree. It would be great fun to see Apple introduce a 7(.85) inch tablet. But, in the long run, I’d rather see them do what is right rather than what is expected.
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I suspect Steve made his 10 inch decision based on the best experience for browsing, videos, typing and other creativity based apps and endeavors. The major downside is portability. Also, if you want to use it as part of an instrument cluster, say in a car or plane, as a GPS or other rich information vehicle, the 10 inch ipad takes more room than necessary. I’d guess that many millions of 7-8 inch ipads could be sold for such uses alone. Again, think military, hospitals, police, auto industry, airlines (cockpit and seatback) etc etc. The ipad is too big and the iphone too small for most of these uses.
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Portability & price.
The iPad WiFi outsells the 4G version. It’ll be the other way around for the iPad Jr.
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Roundtable discussion involving some Apple commentators (via iMore: http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-smaller-bezel-incredibly-thin-and-light)
http://branch.com/b/re-apple-hardware-leaks
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The Summer of AAPL is here. Enjoy it (responsibly) while it lasts.
AFB Night Owl Team™
Thanks, Steve. -
The smaller iPad stories are breaking out all over the internet. Who needs a ‘Yep” with all this smoke? Can some mea culpas be far behind?
http://9to5mac.com/2012/08/14/these-purported-schematics-of-the-ipad-mini-now-appear-to-be-real/
