Apple plans to debut a smaller, cheaper iPad by year-end to help maintain its dominance of the tablet market, two persons with knowledge of the plans said.
The new model will have a screen that is seven to eight inches diagonally, less than the current 9.7-inch version, said the sources who asked not to be identified. The product, which Apple may announce by October, will not have the high-definition (HD) screen featured on the iPad that was released in March, said one of the sources.
A smaller, less expensive iPad could undercut the ambitions of Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com to gain traction in the advancing tablet market, said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach.
The new device will probably have a price closer to Google's Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon's Kindle Fire, both of which have 7-inch screens and cost $199. "It would be the competitors' worst nightmare," Wu said in an interview . "The ball is in Apple's court."
Since the iPad went on sale in April 2010, Apple has dominated the tablet market, which is predicted by Display-Search to reach $66.4 billion this year. Apple has 61% of the market, according to research firm Gartner.
Apple's rivals are eager to gain a toehold. Google said on June 27 that it will sell a tablet-style device called the Nexus 7.
The new model will have a screen that is seven to eight inches diagonally, less than the current 9.7-inch version, said the sources who asked not to be identified. The product, which Apple may announce by October, will not have the high-definition (HD) screen featured on the iPad that was released in March, said one of the sources.
A smaller, less expensive iPad could undercut the ambitions of Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com to gain traction in the advancing tablet market, said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach.
The new device will probably have a price closer to Google's Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon's Kindle Fire, both of which have 7-inch screens and cost $199. "It would be the competitors' worst nightmare," Wu said in an interview . "The ball is in Apple's court."
Since the iPad went on sale in April 2010, Apple has dominated the tablet market, which is predicted by Display-Search to reach $66.4 billion this year. Apple has 61% of the market, according to research firm Gartner.
Apple's rivals are eager to gain a toehold. Google said on June 27 that it will sell a tablet-style device called the Nexus 7.
