Dynamics of the tablet market is rapidly changing. And, the change began with the launch of Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire in the last quarter of 2011. While Kindle Fire made history for the biggest online retailer, it also encouraged many more companies to follow the trend. As a result, today we have some extraordinary small tablets like Barnes and Noble's Nook, Samsung 7.0 tab series and recently launched Nexus 7 (a product of Google and Asus co-branding). All these tablets sport great body and stunning features and impressed its users till now. But, something was still missing! And, that something was just the entry of the maker of the legendary iPads, Apple.
Apple earlier vouched for not entering the small tablet market but now with the changing market situation, the company has to give in their earlier stand point. Although the news of an iPad Mini is still a rumor, but the rumor is in every possibility turning to be reality, suggest some credible recent reports.
According to WSJ, "Officials at the component suppliers, who declined to be named," has informed the website that Apple's Asian component suppliers are preparing for mass production of the smaller tablet and the launch of the tablets can be expected as soon as in September.
The report also informed that the Cupertino tech giant is working with two of its usual display components supplier, LG and AU Optronics.
Another report of last week from Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves suggested that, Apple is prepping a 7.85-inch iPad with 8 GB of flash memory for $299. Hargreaves even claimed that Apple will sell 10 million of the Minis by the end of 2012.
"We anticipate an entry-level 7.80-inch iPad with 8GB of NAND capacity to price at $299 with an initial gross margin of 31%," mentioned Hargreaves in a research note posted last Thursday.
While the current iPads feature a 9.7-inch display (when measured diagonally), the new iPad Mini will have a 7.85-inch display, several reports claim.
Meantime, reports also indicate that Apple will not be alone in the race. Amazon, too, is there in the race with Kindle Fire 2. According to a the China Times report that cited the Amazon's manufacturing partners in Southeast Asia as source, the company is prepping a new Kindle Fire. Around 2 million new Kindle Fire units will hit market shelves on August 7, added the report.
The report also furthered that right now Amazon is focusing only on the 7-inch tablet while larger 8.9 and 10-inch models will possibly become available some time later this year.
Are Amazon and Apple scared of Google's Nexus 7?
While rumors of launching iPad Mini and Kindle Fire 2 were long there, Google's recently launched 7-inch tablet5 perhaps has given them some added pressure with its 1280 x 800 IPS display, quad-core Tegra 3 processor, Android's newly launched 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 1.2-megapixel camera, 1GB of RAM, Near Field Communication technology and a 4,325mAh battery. All these for a super lucrative price tag of $199 (the same price at which Amazon introduced the original Kindle Fire).
Apple, meanwhile, is losing its command over the tablet market, some recent sales figure suggests. From 61.5 percent figure recorded in the previous quarter, Apple in the last quarter of the last year stood at 54.7 percent of the global market mainly due to the launch of Kindle Fire. Even after receiving a rather lukewarm response from the reviewers, Kindle's attractive $199 price tag was one of the major reasons for the Fire to win over Apple.
But Kindle Fire could not maintain the same overwhelming sales figure in the first quarter of 2012. As per the IDC report, while in 2011 Amazon sold 4.8 million Fires dominating up to 17 percent of the worldwide tablet market compared to Apple's 55 percent share, the sales collapsed in the first quarter of 2012 and Amazon's market share went down to 4 percent as compared to 68 percent for the iPad.
Now as Google has launched Nexus 7, Apple and Amazon both companies have their separate battles to win. While Apple has to maintain its dominance in the tablet market, which it can do even better with the launch of a sub-$300, 7-inch product, Amazon has to survive!
What Features to Expect?
Various rumors suggest that iPad Mini will feature the much-talked about Retina display, which will have 330 ppi, along with Sharp's IGZO panel and could be priced between $249 and $299.
Kindle Fire, on the other hand, will be thinner and will resemble the first generation Apple iPad, according to BGR. It might also replace the original's plastic body by matte black metal, with a shiny, chrome-like "rib" on the back, microUSB ports and HDMI-out jacks, a camera, physical volume controls and 8GB of internal storage. .
According to DigiTimes report, the 7-inch Fire 2 will sport a display with higher resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The existing Kindle Fire's display has 600 x 1024 pixels. Price can remain same as the original Kindle Fire, i.e., $199.
Who will win? Apple with its commendable presence and ability of surprise its fanboys by packing some astonishing features with the Mini iPad, might have better opportunity in the race. But let's not forget, Amazon still has an edge over Apple when it comes to the price tag!
