Report: Apple Producing $400 Mini iPad for 2011

By

@Gizmodo
@Gizmodo

Just days after Apple began sales of the initial iPad, the Cupertino, Calif. company is readying a smaller, less-expensive version for 2011, a report suggested Thursday. The unit would be 5- to 7-inches and carry a $400 price tag, according to a Taiwan tech publication.

The mini iPad would focus on consumers needing a smaller device and tasks not requiring much text input, Digitimes said, citing the publication’s research analyst. The analyst made the claims based on “talks with upstream component sources,” according to the Digitimes Web site.


The device, which could be available in the first quarter of 2011, is seen as a direct competitor to the similar-sized Kindle e-reader from Amazon, as well as Dell and HP mini tablets. The HP Slate, which is expected to arrive this summer, was not given much chance of competing with the iPad due to the HP product’s use of Microsoft Windows 7 – which causes the iPad rival to run hot and have less battery life. The iPad uses Apple’s own version of the ARM processor and the iPX OS.

Earlier this week, an analyst said up to 60 percent of consumers interested in the iPad likely did not take part in the April 3 frenzy to purchase the first version of Apple’s tablet. A second-generation iPad could include a camera, Flash support and USB ports, items missing from the initial iPad.

Apple is expected today to unveil version 4.0 of its iPhone OS and perhaps provide additional information on the iPad’s launch day sales. Monday, the company announced 300,000 iPads were sold on April 3, a number far lower than analysts had forecast.

[via 9to5 Mac and Digitimes]

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