Apple is said to be developing a new inexpensive iPad for 2018.
Sources say it will be even cheaper than the 9.7-inch model currently on offer as the company looks to take on affordable rivals from the likes of Amazon, Samsung, and Huawei.
Apple made the iPad cheaper than ever back in March. At just $379, its entry-level 9.7-inch model is even more affordable than an iPad mini. Customers still get a sharp Retina display, a snappy A9 processor, and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera.
Apple plans to make iPad even cheaper
Cheaper tablets are still available, however. Now Apple wants to chase after them with a new 9.7-inch iPad that will cost just $259, according to Digitimes. The company hopes the device will help maintain its 10 million tablet shipments per quarter.
“With the new device, the sources expect the tablet market to witness a new wave of price competition among first-tier players including Samsung Electronics, Amazon, Huawei and Lenovo,” adds the report.
iPad sales have been falling
iPad sales have been falling every year since 2014 as the tablet market matures. Consumers don’t buy tablets as frequently as they buy smartphones; many hold onto the same device for years — or decide they don’t actually need one at all.
However, during the third fiscal quarter of 2017, iPad sales actually rose year-over-year. iPad Pro and its additional functionality and features played a large part in that, but a more affordable iPad was certainly a big factor, too.
Apple will be hoping its next entry-level model will have just as much impact.
iPad could cost $259 in 2018
Supply chain sources expect Apple’s new entry-level iPad to arrive in the second half of 2018. They say the device will be manufactured by Compal Electronics, while Compeq and Unitech Printed Circuit Board will be responsible for its logic boards.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
5 responses to “Apple planning even cheaper iPad for 2018”
When even Apple has to lower their prices to rock-bottom, you know that the tablet market is dead as a viable category to make real money.
Apple should make a 2-in-1 version of the MacBook.
No, it should not. 2-in-1 devices are pieces of crap. You cannot make a device that does both things really well. I’ve seen many and they’re all either good at one thing, but not the other, etc. If the tablet market is failing, then why even bother with the tablet portion of a 2-in-1?
macOS is not setup to be a touch OS and iOS is not setup to be a desktop OS. Merging the two together would be a disaster beyond belief.
It simply will not work.
And don’t even mention the POS Microsoft Surface Tablet. This is not a good product in real world use. Its success is modest at best. If you just look at reviews, sure it probably sounds great. Then again, look at reviews for the newest MacBook Pro…it doesn’t always get the greatest reviews yet Apple is selling a ton of them….more than any Mac notebook in history.
I seriously doubt anyone would buy a 2-in-1 Mac in significant amounts because it would be so expensive you might as well just get a MacBook Pro in the end. Just look at the price of the Surface Tablet…its over $1000 when its all said and done. Anyway you look at it…it just simply wouldn’t work for Apple.
What you’re saying is true about the first couple of Surfaces, but the latest models are really nice. I used one for a week and if I didn’t have such a sizable investment in Apple, I probably would have bought one. I’m pretty sure they’ll come out with one in the next couple of years. The software is plainly headed toward that and there’s been a definite softening in tone when referring to hybrids in the last year or so. Tim Cook is a smart pragmatic guy. If he thinks they can do one justice and there’s money to be made, they’ll do one. Simple as that.
Not rock bottom or close to it. There’s no shortage of sub $100 tablets on sale right now that do tablet things. Competitive. And the article pretty clearly spelled out that the one area of growth was in the upper end of the market with their iPad Pro line, many of them purchased as PC replacements.
I’m typing this on a MacBook Pro that I have to do the tiny handful of things that I couldn’t do as well on my iPad Pro 5 months ago, such as web design and heavy duty graphics and video editing. Since then that list has shrunk to about half. When Pixelmator brings the Pro version to iOS, it will be close to zero. I’m always going to buy whatever I need to do the job but I really don’t expect to buy another laptop again. Nor do I personally see a need for a 2-in-1, although I’d much rather bring iOS to MacOS than the other way around.
Thats just me. In terms of Apple and the tablet market, the only thing I see from this news is that they feel that the market has matured to the point where they fully understand the cycle. iPad users update every 5 years when their machines start struggling to keep up or not all, instead of every 1-3 years like with phones. iPad Pro users will probably upgrade slightly faster than they do laptops. The growth is from laptop users switching or considering switching to tablets and, assuming this news is true, from folks who might be persuaded to spend $150 more than rock bottom but not $250.
Smart!
I also think that the iPad is simply cheaper to produce now. The prices of the screens probably came down, as well as some of the other components. There’s no reason to charge $899 for an iPad when the component prices may be so much cheaper that could bring the price down to say $299-349 or something like that.