Apple is feeling the pressure of its mobile device competitors, particularly in the tablet market. Other companies such as Samsung, Asus, Acer, HP and more recently, HTC are releasing new tablet devices this year.
Apple is already facing difficulties with the release of its upcoming tablet devices, the iPad 5 and the iPad mini 2. Reports suggest that there may be production issues with the Retina Display, while processor chip production may also be a factor. Analysts are reporting that a new tablet with Retina Display may not make it to the market until 2014.
Rumors suggest that Apple has sought out another manufacturer to produce its A7 processor chips for its next gen devices. These devices are likely to be the iPad mini 2 and iPad 5 tablets, however that is just speculation.
To further add to the current dilemmas that Apple is facing are its competitors continuously rolling out new products. Korean competitor Samsung released its Galaxy Note 8 tablet in April and is set to release its new Galaxy Mega series tablets this summer. This summer will also welcome the latest tablet from Google in collaboration with ASUS, the Nexus 7.7, which is expected to be released in July. ASUS is also working on some smaller Windows 8 tablets for this year, according to the Wall Street Journal Monday.
Amazon, riding the success of its Amazon Kindle flagship tablets, is working on releasing a 10-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet just in time for holidays. The new addition to the Kindle Fire HD family will follow up the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 LTE. This is not good news for Apple who may see competitors moving in on its sales when it finally does release its next gen iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 devices.
