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More Apple Tablet rumours surface

by on05 January 2010

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$600 to $1000, sales of up to 10 million units

We're
still not quite sure what Apple's new tablet will be called. Or what it will look like, or what it will do for that matter. However, we're not alone, so Businessweek has compiled a few more plausible rumours about Jobs mob's new toy.

Depending on who you ask, the new iSomething will cost between $600 and $1000. As we're talking about Apple, we're probably looking at $300 to $600 worth of hardware and the former figure just won't buy much in terms of performance. Analysts believe it will sport a 10.1-inch screen, but nobody is speculating on the resolution just yet. This is where it gets a bit more interesting, as the new tablet could be just a glorified iPod Touch with a bigger screen or something completely different.

We're guessing Apple won't skimp out on the screen, as it will be the gadget's principle selling point. Well, that and the fact that most people who buy Apple gear just go for the sticker. However, if Apple doesn't go for a proper screen, say a 1,280x720 or 1,366x768 unit, it just won't be nearly as appealing to consumers in this day and age. We've seen quite a few netbooks with 1,024 screens and they just don't cut it for many people. But the real question is whether Apple will stick to tried and tested iPhone apps or go for something a bit more demanding, both in terms of CPU muscle and graphics.

“We expect the key differentiator of the device to be its software,” Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis, wrote in a note to clients last week. “Apple’s tablet would compete well in the netbook category, even though it would not be a netbook.”

Munster thinks the device will cost around $600 and that Apple will ship around 1.4 million units in 2010. He also believes Apple will rely on iPhone apps for the new toy, as it already has more than 100,000 of them ready to go.

However, former Google exec Lee Kai-fu recently wrote in his blog that Apple expects to sell 10 million tablets in the first year of release. Lee, citing a source with intimate knowledge of the project, claims it will cost less than $1,000.

It seems highly unlikely Apple will go for a price remotely close to $1,000, as it would come dangerously close to its MacBooks, but then again this is Apple we are talking about. In any case, it's hard to see the tablet flopping no matter what the final spec and price end up like. Apple has gotten away with much worse in the past. The market has already reacted quite positively to the FUD surrounding the tablet and Apple's stock closed at $214.01 yesterday.

More here.
Last modified on 05 January 2010
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