3 Points on iPad 3
Apple Inc. is working with component suppliers and its assembler in Asia for the trial production of its next generation iPad from October, people familiar with the situation say, as it looks to stay ahead of the competition in the fast-growing tablet computer market.
“…people familiar with the situation”….well….if those people are talking then I’m convinced.
And “stay ahead of the competition”? Cripes, Apple would have to release an iPad with live cobras in the box for anyone else to even have a chance at this point.
The Cupertino, Calif., company has ordered key components such as display panels and chips for a new iPad it is aiming to launch in early 2012, said the people.
A year after iPad 2. Not surprising in the least.
The next generation iPad is expected to feature a high resolution display – 2048 by 1536 compared with 1024 by 768 in the iPad 2 – and Apple’s suppliers have already shipped small quantities of components for the sampling of the iPad 3. Suppliers said Apple has placed orders for a 9.7-inch screen device.
Sounds right.
Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu in Beijing declined to comment.
Probably a good choice on her part.
Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. assembles the iPad. A company spokesman declined to comment.
Probably a good move.
Apple reported blowout earnings for its fiscal third quarter ended June 25 in part due to the popularity of its iPad. The company sold 9.3 million units in the quarter, nearly triple what it sold a year earlier. Together with the robust sales of the iPhone smartphone and other electronics devices, Apple’s net profit for the period more than doubled to $7.31 billion from $3.25 billion a year earlier.
Magic.
Still, the next-generation iPad would be coming at a time when there’s more competition in the market. Companies from Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., ZTE Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have launched similar devices using Google Inc.’s Android software.
Good luck with that.
Three points:
- iPad 3 was never going to come out in 2011. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever when that rumor starting floating around in the beginning of the year. (Mostly from people who totally misread what Jon Gruber had written). When the iPhone 5 didn’t come out in the summer that should have been the final nail in the coffin for this rumor.
- How is it news that Apple is working on a new iPad anyways? Do people think that Apple just slaps the thing together the weekend before announcing it?
- If the iPad 3 does come out with a retina display, then Apple’s competitors (if they weren’t already) are totally fucked.