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Apple To Strike Back?

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[The cyberspace is abuzz with news of Apple planning to debut a smaller, cheaper iPad by year-end. iPad Mini will be the weapon of choice for Apple to take on newcomers like Google's Nexus 7 and maintain its dominance of the tablet market. The new model will have a screen that is seven to eight inches diagonally and 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 be just the thing to undercut the ambitions of Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com to gain traction in the advancing tablet market. 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. 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 per cent 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. Earlier in the month, Microsoft announced a tablet called Surface that will have a similar screen size as the current iPad. Amazon's Kindle Fire was released last year. The entrants' best chance of success has been to focus on markets where Apple had no toehold, said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Ovum. While Microsoft has not disclosed pricing or timing for the two versions of its iPad, the higher-end version will probably be pricier than the iPad and targeted more at an emerging class of laptop PCs called Ultrabooks. The latest iPad ranges in price from $499 to $829. Google's Nexus 7 could stack up well against Amazon's Kindle Fire, which went on sale in November. The Nexus 7, manufactured by Asustek Computer, has a faster processor and better battery life than the Kindle Fire, as well as a front-facing camera. (With agencies)