Double the resolution, but when?
I read the whole thread and still see the 2048x1536 as the most likely when it does change, but I'm still not 100% sure about that change coming right away with the iPad 2. Mind you, Apple was happy to kill the iPod Mini to introduce the Nano - even though the Mini was wildly successful at the time -, so I can see Apple taking a hit on its margin and going retina with the iPad 2.
Lots of folks said that Apple gets high revenues from the App Store(s). While true, high revenues do not equate high profits. Apple's content selling (i.e. iTunes and the App Stores) is conducted slightly above break-even. It is NOT a major source of PROFIT for Apple. The margins are low. Apple sells content because the availability of content makes the hardware more valuable. The hardware is where Apple earns most of its money (and by that I mean PROFITS, not revenues). The margins on hardware are much higher than the margins on digital content. (Mind you, Apple, as a developer, is doing well selling its software on its own Mac App Store, but it's still fairly minor relative to profits from hardware.)
I remember reading somewhere that Jobs, talking about Apple in the... 90s? said something like... Apple went for profit (with high margins) when it should have gone for market share. Now don't get me wrong. Apple doesn't sell at a loss. Ever. But if you look at iTunes or the App Stores, it's obvious that Apple can deal with low margins when it's strategically important to have a certain piece of the puzzle in place. I believe they might try to do that with the iPad 2 (as many have suggested in this thread). Take a hit on the margin, but crush all competition very convincingly. The people who buy an iPad now are likely to buy an iPad again when they get a new tablet... and an iPhone when they get a new phone... and a MacBook Air or something when they get a new laptop... and an iMac when they get a new desktop... So I think it's fairly reasonable to think that Apple might be willing to take a short-term margin hit on the iPad 2 to really stick its foot in the door and position itself as THE name in mobile computing (and, hell, maybe even computing in general 10 years from now).
I'm just speculating here. I don't have any kind of special insider knowledge. But I'm starting to think that a 2048x1536 resolution for the iPad 2 could make a lot of sense.
Still... Wow! Kinda mind-blowing, isn't it?
I read the whole thread and still see the 2048x1536 as the most likely when it does change, but I'm still not 100% sure about that change coming right away with the iPad 2. Mind you, Apple was happy to kill the iPod Mini to introduce the Nano - even though the Mini was wildly successful at the time -, so I can see Apple taking a hit on its margin and going retina with the iPad 2.
Lots of folks said that Apple gets high revenues from the App Store(s). While true, high revenues do not equate high profits. Apple's content selling (i.e. iTunes and the App Stores) is conducted slightly above break-even. It is NOT a major source of PROFIT for Apple. The margins are low. Apple sells content because the availability of content makes the hardware more valuable. The hardware is where Apple earns most of its money (and by that I mean PROFITS, not revenues). The margins on hardware are much higher than the margins on digital content. (Mind you, Apple, as a developer, is doing well selling its software on its own Mac App Store, but it's still fairly minor relative to profits from hardware.)
I remember reading somewhere that Jobs, talking about Apple in the... 90s? said something like... Apple went for profit (with high margins) when it should have gone for market share. Now don't get me wrong. Apple doesn't sell at a loss. Ever. But if you look at iTunes or the App Stores, it's obvious that Apple can deal with low margins when it's strategically important to have a certain piece of the puzzle in place. I believe they might try to do that with the iPad 2 (as many have suggested in this thread). Take a hit on the margin, but crush all competition very convincingly. The people who buy an iPad now are likely to buy an iPad again when they get a new tablet... and an iPhone when they get a new phone... and a MacBook Air or something when they get a new laptop... and an iMac when they get a new desktop... So I think it's fairly reasonable to think that Apple might be willing to take a short-term margin hit on the iPad 2 to really stick its foot in the door and position itself as THE name in mobile computing (and, hell, maybe even computing in general 10 years from now).
I'm just speculating here. I don't have any kind of special insider knowledge. But I'm starting to think that a 2048x1536 resolution for the iPad 2 could make a lot of sense.
Still... Wow! Kinda mind-blowing, isn't it?
