Following numerous sources like iMore, Digitimes, Macotakara, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times now reports that Apple is planning to launch a 7.85-inch iPad this year. In a ploy “to lure customers who want different sizes of tablets into the iPad product family,” the smaller device will cost “significantly less” than the current iPad Apple starts at $499.
The company 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. The product is expected to be announced this year.
Apple started prototyping a 7-8-inch iPad back in the mid-2000s, according to the Times. Steve Jobs “thought the device was too small and wondered aloud what it was good for “besides surfing the Web in the bathroom,”’ according to the report.
The Times also believes that Amazon is working on a larger version of the Kindle Fire tablet to “compete more directly with the iPad,” and Microsoft is also touting its Surface tablet lineup. Coincidentally, Google also started shipping its $200 Nexus 7 tablet over the weekend. The tablet market is definitely heating up.
Apple sells the iPad 2 for $399, so a smaller tablet would assumedly retail for $299 or lower.
Source: The New York Times
