Anonymous Samsung Executive Claims Apple Planning to Launch Smaller iPad by End of 2012

SAD*FACED*CLOWN said:

I don't see why more don't think this is possible...obviously Apple is concerned about Kindle Fire, and the rest of the cheap tablets...Apple needs to compete in this space...ignoring it would be foolish

Click to expand...

Apple doesn’t need to worry about devices that don’t come close to doing what an iPad does. Someone who buys a Fire and thinks they’re getting an iPad are not going to be repeat Fire customers. They’re probably going to get an iPad! (If, on the other hand, they just want a color e-reader for cheap, then it’s a good option. One that Apple is happy to let Amazon take the loss on!)

What Apple MAY need to worry about is limited supplies on the iPad 10” display panels. If demand exceeds that, then offering an 8" panel size might allow Apple to sell more iPads. If, and only if, those smaller panels can be made in addition to (not instead of) the 10” units. In different facilities, say.

why

why would they even bother, they can't sell ipad's in their current form factor fast enough. Plus, we all know how Apple likes to keep their product line simple. Not to mention pissing off developers and requiring them to scale down their apps.

Really? News to me.

entatlrg said:

I gotta ask. WHY ARE YOU HERE?

Literally EVERY post you make is anti Apple, anti Steve Jobs, anti everything Apple does and produces.

You have such hate towards Apple the 'communist, no choice, horrible company' you make them out to be, and you're here heckling about it everyday

Click to expand...

Because everything outside of OS X is hampered by restrictions and I'm one of the few who will voice the fact that having options is a good thing... though the same is rarely said from the rest of you. Apple says jump, the lot of you respond with 'how high?'

I'm sorry for being able to read between the lines.

xinu said:

As a developer you should figure things out how to deal with different resolutions.

Like the rest of the computer world's developers are doing just fine.

Why it will fragmentate your applications if the aspect ratio is slightly different? It cannot be that difficult, come on.

The 4:3 aspect ratio sucks with movies. Dont you agree?

Click to expand...

There are ways to deal with resolutions -- the problem is that many devs go the route of making their apps look "like blown-up smartphone apps" when they're on a larger screen. See Cook's 3/7 keynote, where he slams the Android versions of the Twitter and Yelp apps. Those Android apps are like that because there are about sixteen million different sizes of Android tablets and devices out there... talk about fragmentation.

Apple needs to keep this in mind, or we'll wind up with "blown-up iPhone apps" on the iPad Mini.

This just in, Apple wins $1 billion award for breach of contract for Samsung divulging secret, competitive information about Apple's business plans.

wikus said:

Because everything outside of OS X is hampered by restrictions and I'm one of the few who will voice the fact that having options is a good thing...

Click to expand...

Not really. The internet is choke full of people like you. In fact it's very hard to find any tech forum where someone doesn't jump into an Apple discussion and complain how terrible iOS devices are because they are locked and how great choices are. You're far from being "the few"

dBeats said:

This just in, Apple wins $1 billion award for breach of contract for Samsung divulging secret, competitive information about Apple's business plans.

Click to expand...

This just in, Samsung wins patents lawsuit against Apple. Judge tells apple, go sue google since the suit was about android.

As true as the iPhone 4cheap plastic pre-paid iPhone rumors!

fertilized-egg said:

Not really. The internet is choke full of people like you. In fact it's very hard to find any tech forum where someone doesn't jump into an Apple discussion and complain how terrible iOS devices are because they are locked and how great choices are. You're far from being "the few"

Click to expand...

Your comment is true, but not on THIS forum.

If an "iPad Mini" ever launches, it will mean the death of the iPod Touch.

Apple compete on profits and margins. All this talk of Kindle Fire and other specific products is nonsense.

If Amazon aren't making much money on the Kindle Fire, Apple aren't going to either if they have a similarly priced tablet. (Yes they benefit from reduced tooling costs and greater manufacturing efficiencies, but they would also produce higher quality, more costly hardware. If they can't put a big profit margin in, it's uncharacteristic for them to make it just for the sake of competition. Apple doesn't do direct competition on price.)

Blakjack said:

I still dont believe it. Really dont care honestly. 9.7 is perfect.

Click to expand...

Well said.
Plus there is a thing called an NDA. If this was true that executive would have broken the agreement his company and Apple have.

And more then one iPad release in a single year will not happen at the current time at Apple. If there was to be a smaller tablet from Apple this year, it would have been released alongside the iPad (3rd Gen).

Blakjack said:

I still dont believe it. Really dont care honestly. 9.7 is perfect.

Click to expand...

Perfect for YOU, but not everyone on the planet. Personally, I'd rather have the Playbook's dimensions and aspect ratio....

I'm not putting much stock into these rumors right now, as evidenced by the fact that I pre-ordered the new iPad last week. However, as a 5'4" woman with fairly small hands, I would love to see a smaller iPad, and if it became available I would probably sell the 3rd gen. 9.7" and "downgrade." I know that many disagree with me, but I loved the Kindle Fire form factor (and hated pretty much everything else about it), and I would give up some of the resolution and power in exchange for more portability.

MacinDoc said:

Apple is going to be furious about this leak. I remember a similar leak that cost a certain graphics card manufacturer the contract for supplying the graphics cards for MacBook Pros and iMacs.

Click to expand...

I seriously doubt this is a real leak. Even if it turned out to be somewhat true, it wouldn't guarantee a leak from such a source as many of these rumors are based around popular speculation.

Peace said:

Couldn't this guy get busted for insider trading if he decided to sell/buy some stock ?

Click to expand...

If this actually represents a real person then maybe... I don't know the laws around insider trading that well (basic understanding, but no better than that). Whenever I read this stuff though, it seems like they're fishing for page hits and nothing more. Many of the rumors just seem based on popular or previous speculation.

RealScience said:

I'm not putting much stock into these rumors right now, as evidenced by the fact that I pre-ordered the new iPad last week. However, as a 5'4" woman with fairly small hands, I would love to see a smaller iPad, and if it became available I would probably sell the 3rd gen. 9.7" and "downgrade." I know that many disagree with me, but I loved the Kindle Fire form factor (and hated pretty much everything else about it), and I would give up some of the resolution and power in exchange for more portability.

Click to expand...

Those people who are saying that "9.7 inch screen is perfect" are insane.

- Can you put iPad2/3 nicely to your purse or pocket? no
- Is the iPad2/3 too big for little children? yes
- Is it that of a big deal to handle different resolutions? yes if you are retarded coder
- Is majority of Top-100 software available for both iOS and Android? yes and they work just fine with different resolutions

This is an amusing thread given that I bought the Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus last week to replace my Kindle Fire and hold me over until a smaller iPad is released (next fall). Of course, I have no idea if a smaller iPad is in the works (and apparently there are a billion reasons why it would be insane for Apple to do this) but a 9.7" iPad is too big for my purposes. A 7.85" iPad for $299 makes perfect sense to me and therefore I'm holding out hope that Apple will come through. (-:

I've been very happy with the Tab thus far b/c it's performance blows the Fire out of the water and it's size and ability to run Flash (without using wonky third party apps) make it much more convenient than my iPad 1. A real testament to my commitment to "size" is that I'm a total sucker for eye candy and the so-called retina display but it's not enough to entice me to buy the new iPad.

xinu said:

Those people who are saying that "9.7 inch screen is perfect" are insane.

- Can you put iPad2/3 nicely to your purse or pocket? no
- Is the iPad2/3 too big for little children? yes
- Is it that of a big deal to handle different resolutions? yes if you are retarded coder
- Is majority of Top-100 software available for both iOS and Android? yes and they work just fine with different resolutions

Click to expand...

This.

Why is it that only mac users are so arrogant to think 'it suits me, so it must suit everyone else!'

What the hell is so wrong with CHOICE?

Menopause said:

Sure Samsung, I'll believe it when I see it.

Click to expand...

if it's real, then I'll just need to pre-order it when it's released as well , but I know I wont be buying a sammy 7" tab

strange bedfellows

I just think it's so bizarre that Apple and Samsung can be doing billions of dollars worth of business with each other in one area while at the time suing the pants off each other in another. But I guess as they say it's only business. Whatever.

popnfresh said:

I just think it's so bizarre that Apple and Samsung can be doing billions of dollars worth of business with each other in one area while at the time suing the pants off each other in another. But I guess as they say it's only business. Whatever.

Click to expand...

Theatre & Cartel that what it is, nothing else.

Sorry, if true, I don't want it. When I saw the iPad in real life for the first time, I actually thought that it was smaller than I imagined. For me, the current size is perfect.

gglockner said:

Yes, any day now, Apple will have a 7" iPad, a television set, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and maybe a new Mac Pro.

Click to expand...

I thought you were on to something until you mentioned the Mac Pro, then it became clear you were dreaming

Harleyhum said:

I've been very happy with the Tab thus far b/c it's performance blows the Fire out of the water and it's size and ability to run Flash (without using wonky third party apps) make it much more convenient than my iPad 1. A real testament to my commitment to "size" is that I'm a total sucker for eye candy and the so-called retina display but it's not enough to entice me to buy the new iPad.

Click to expand...

this is good news, that means that there will be at least one more for the rest of us . Really it doesn't matter who's not buying and for what reason. I have co-workers with sammy tabs, asus tabs, kindle fires, that's cool, 3 out of the 25 co-workers in my group have android based tablets.. a smaller tablet doesn't make sense in my group's view, the kindle fire guy uses his for watching movies and wishes it was bigger.. :-/ the asus guy likes his tablet and never uses it for viewing video... and except for the day the sammy guy brought in his tablet to show off, I've never seen it again. I like taking my iPad to meetings to record notes, remote login back to my desktop... etc, etc, etc... it works well for the group of us that use our iPads as light laptop replacements, except for the asus guy who also has the keyboard guy, there is nothing we miss about our heavy laptops for in-company usage.