[thebignewt]

If Apple does come out with a 7" it won't be a measly $200, you can forget about that. You couldn't even get a low end iTouch for that price. If they drop it I say it's gonna be $100-150 less than quivalent iPad. It could be relatively inexpensive to develop would be the only reason they'd mess with it. Just cut some smaller sreens and cram the iPad guts into it.

[zethaaron]

Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly a small deal to create a tablet but honestly, RIM doesn't have a lot of eggs in the PlayBook basket. I hate to say it but it's true that so far the PlayBook has been a QNX operating system developing platform. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that's all it exists for but, the phones come first for RIM. Luckily it won't matter when BB10 is out and on the PlayBook because apps should be 100% cross compatible between the phones and the Playbook.

[Mystic205]

a decent definition of a troll is someone who purports rumor as fact... neither you nor ANYONE outside Amazon knows the cost and margins on the KF..

I don't think the Fire has made a profit, yet. They were selling the hardware at a loss. .

[Mystic205]

complete agreement... i bet $399 is the price.. additionally i strongly suspect they will wish to keep 4:3 aspect ratio in which case it still will not be as portable as an Android or PB..

THe "death of the 7" tablet" i think is really funny... in 5 years i think 7" will outnumber 10" on the grounds of portability and 10" tablets will come under attack from slimmer lighter 11" ultrabooks..

If Apple does come out with a 7" it won't be a measly $200, you can forget about that. You couldn't even get a low end iTouch for that price. If they drop it I say it's gonna be $100-150 less than quivalent iPad. It could be relatively inexpensive to develop would be the only reason they'd mess with it. Just cut some smaller sreens and cram the iPad guts into it.

[cleacy]

KBZ1960
Didn't they ever tell you not to feed the monkeys in the Zoo.
With the new iPad cost of around $280 to manufacture
I will put a 7" around $230 cost.
I strongly doubt Apple will sell their 7" iPad below $300
to loose money like RIM and Amazon already are.

From your thoughts: A new ipad retailing at $499 with a $280 cost gives a gross profit of $219.

A 7 inch ipad at $300 with a $230 cost would be a $70 profit.

The ipad 2 (per IHS Isuppli) has a BOM of $245 retailing at $399, for a $154 profit.

Who would a 7 inch ipad be competing with? Apple. Most of the tablet market that isn't purchasing the ipad, and say the 7 inch size is better don't like Apple, and aren't going to purchase an Apple product regardless. The only increase in sales they would get at that size would be at the expense of a sale of the (higher margin) 10 inch ipad.

They could drop the price on the ipad 2 almost another $100 for the same profit as a 7 inch ipad using your guessed numbers. I'd say it's more likely to see a $299 ipad 2 before you see a 7 inch ipad.

[mkanaman]

If this rumour is honestly true, there is absolutely no chance I'm keeping my playbook... its absolutely a no brainer.

I hope RIM hurry their asses up and sort out the playbook before this ipad comes out.

[BB_Bmore]

I have to respectfully disagree that a 7 inch ipad will kill the playbook.

The playbook is getting better and better and if blackberry10 is anything like I think it will be then maybe the ipad will be in trouble. Only time will tell I guess.

[BB_Bmore]

Rim coming out with a 10 inch playbook, Apple is coming out with a 7 inch ipad...Wtf is going on?!

[EdY]

From your thoughts: A new ipad retailing at $499 with a $280 cost gives a gross profit of $219.

A 7 inch ipad at $300 with a $230 cost would be a $70 profit.

The ipad 2 (per IHS Isuppli) has a BOM of $245 retailing at $399, for a $154 profit.

Who would a 7 inch ipad be competing with? Apple. Most of the tablet market that isn't purchasing the ipad, and say the 7 inch size is better don't like Apple, and aren't going to purchase an Apple product regardless. The only increase in sales they would get at that size would be at the expense of a sale of the (higher margin) 10 inch ipad.

They could drop the price on the ipad 2 almost another $100 for the same profit as a 7 inch ipad using your guessed numbers. I'd say it's more likely to see a $299 ipad 2 before you see a 7 inch ipad.

I completely agree. Size here wouldn't matter to people, if the iPad 2 was dropped to $299 it would cause another stampede in front of all the world's Apple Stores. According to the above calculation, Apple would make the same profit on a reduced-price iPad 2 than a new 7" iPad *and* not have to do anything at all. Designing an iPad at 7" is going to cost them a lot of money. Reducing the price on 10" iPad 2, in comparison, is simple and will earn them the same (if not more) profits.

Apple releasing a 7" iPad is competing with themselves. You couldn't have said it better in the above quote. Anyone who has NOT bought a tablet so far, is either waiting for a cheaper iPad (whether 7 or 10" they don't care) or they don't want to buy a tablet at all.... Because if they were using "screen size" as the excuse, well there are plenty of 7" tablets at $199 which already are on the market (Kindle Fire, Blackberry Playbook, and many others).

I highly doubt people would be saying they didn't buy an iPad because they were waiting for it to be 7" size. More likely, they are waiting for the iPad to be CHEAPER, because they want the iPad but cannot afford it (or justify the expense).

[Thunderbuck]

Okay, I'll say what I said on the other 7" iPad thread: assuming this is true (and I don't believe that $299 price at all), why does it have to spell "instant doom" for the Playbook?

We've only had a glimpse of BB10, and we haven't seen it on a Playbook at all. It may be a more attractive offering for many customers.

RIM has no control over what Apple does. If anything, trying to release the Playbook to go head-to-head with the iPad 2 was RIM's biggest strategic mistake. Let RIM play its own game.

[kevinnugent]

I know quite a few people who are buying basic kindles to take on holiday because their ipads are to big and heavy.

Baloney. Honestly, who would think a 10" tablet is too BIG and HEAVY to travel with? Seriously.

We have three iPads in our three person family. When we go away for holidays, we also take our two Kindles. Like your friends. They don't take the Kindle instead of their iPad, they take them as well!

[Majestic Lion]

Ignore the title of this article as it's grossly inaccurate. Apple wants all the marbles, not just Android's. The last two paragraphs speak for themselves.

Apple 'planning to sell �150 iPad Mini AT A LOSS in order to kill off Android tablets' | Mail Online

[kbz1960]

Baloney. Honestly, who would think a 10" tablet is too BIG and HEAVY to travel with? Seriously.

We have three iPads in our three person family. When we go away for holidays, we also take our two Kindles. Like your friends. They don't take the Kindle instead of their iPad, they take them as well!

Do you take your iPad to work or most anywhere you go?

[kbz1960]

Ignore the title of this article as it's grossly inaccurate. Apple wants all the marbles, not just Android's. The last two paragraphs speak for themselves.

Apple 'planning to sell �150 iPad Mini AT A LOSS in order to kill off Android tablets' | Mail Online

And rule the world.

[DX9]

Do you take your iPad to work or most anywhere you go?

I do since I use my iPad for work. Have the LTE version and not having to tether and only pay $10 a month to share my data from my iPhone data plan is also awesome. Also my clients much prefer my iPad then my Playbook. I also bring it to my office to play around with and web browse. So much better web browsing on the iPad. No checkboarding and so much more fluid. I also bring it to family gatherings etc. However, I wouldn't be caught dead carrying the iPad or even the Playbook out shopping or going to a mall or any of those kinda functions. I have my iPhone for that.

[kbz1960]

I do since I use my iPad for work. Have the LTE version and not having to tether and only pay $10 a month to share my data from my iPhone data plan is also awesome. Also my clients much prefer my iPad then my Playbook. I also bring it to my office to play around with and web browse. So much better web browsing on the iPad. No checkboarding and so much more fluid. I also bring it to family gatherings etc. However, I wouldn't be caught dead carrying the iPad or even the Playbook out shopping or going to a mall or any of those kinda functions. I have my iPhone for that.

Cool. For myself it would just be too big or inconvenient to take everywhere I take my PB. I got the smaller size as I was tired of the inconvenience of taking a netbook. Also for me the things I do on it I can not stand doing on even the 4 or 5" screens. Yes I also wear my reading glasses when using my PB.

Maybe this is only a consideration for those with less than perfect eye sight but for me the perfect balance between being to small or too big.

[dandbj13]

Do you take your iPad to work or most anywhere you go?

Absolutely! It is easy to carry around compared, even to my 13" MBA. Having a persistent connection to the internet for a device that can do so much is a killer feature for me. I am in the extreme minority. Most are happy with wifi only.

I also use my iPad for work in all kinds of ways. I take hand written notes when in meetings, I use GoToMyPC to connect with office computers when out and about. Full spreadsheets are a breeze. Compatibility with popular file formats are not a problem.

I do all my photo editing on my iPad these days. iPhoto for iOS is better than the desktop version. If I find myself in a waiting room with time to kill, I can watch all my recorded, or live TV from DISH. As a portable TV/DVR, it is second to none!

The utility of a fully connected iPad on the go is far more than that of any other device I carry, IMO. Your mileage may vary. Oh, all that without mentioning console-class gaming. How about that. I also forgot the unmatched book reading experience on a Retina display that size. Carrying around books, now that's cumbersome. Carrying an all-in-one, do practically anything computer, that's amazing.

[cleacy]

Do you take your iPad to work or most anywhere you go?

I've got an HP Touchpad running Android (not an Ipad) that I purchased based on price during their firesale. At the time, I thought 10 inches would be to large, and hoped to see a 7 inch ipad made available. At $99 I had minimal expectations, and was quite fine with purchasing that size to see how I liked it.

Guess what? It turns out 10 inches isn't to large, and it goes pretty much everywhere I do. It can't do everything an Ipad can, and it is slightly heavier, but it does enough.

[DX9]

Absolutely! It is easy to carry around compared, even to my 13" MBA. Having a persistent connection to the internet for a device that can do so much is a killer feature for me. I am in the extreme minority. Most are happy with wifi only.

I also use my iPad for work in all kinds of ways. I take hand written notes when in meetings, I use GoToMyPC to connect with office computers when out and about. Full spreadsheets are a breeze. Compatibility with popular file formats are not a problem.

I do all my photo editing on my iPad these days. iPhoto for iOS is better than the desktop version. If I find myself in a waiting room with time to kill, I can watch all my recorded, or live TV from DISH. As a portable TV/DVR, it is second to none!

The utility of a fully connected iPad on the go is far more than that of any other device I carry, IMO. Your mileage may vary. Oh, all that without mentioning console-class gaming. How about that. I also forgot the unmatched book reading experience on a Retina display that size. Carrying around books, now that's cumbersome. Carrying an all-in-one, do practically anything computer, that's amazing.

Nice, I'll be checking out iPhoto for the iPad. I use it on my iMac now.

[ekafara]

So if they do come out with a with a ten inch ipad without hat are hey going to price their ipods at? They wont be able to keep it at he price it is now.

[dandbj13]

So if they do come out with a with a ten inch ipad without hat are hey going to price their ipods at? They wont be able to keep it at he price it is now.

I believe I'm on the record as saying a 7" iPad is a stupid idea. From a business perspective, I hope they kill this project before it sees the light of day. From a geek perspective, I say, bring it on. I think it will prove, once and for all, that this is an iPad market, not a tablet market. Every company that wants to make money, will end their tablet hobbies altogether. It will be just like the MP3 player market. That is how it is shaping up.

People who want a premium product will get an iPad. People who want a cheap product will get the iPad mini. Everything else will just be the Blue-light special at Kmart.

Bring on the anti-competitive, predatory pricing!

[jpash549]

The current versions of iPods have a small screen and the device is mainly supposed to support music and video consumption. Perhaps you can do email and surf the web as ln a phone but it doesn't seem like that would be pleasant. If you want a tablet you wont buy an iPod. And don't expect that Apple is going to bring out a cheap,crummy 7" class tablet just because Jobs is gone. It will be at least as good as the iPad2. With Apple's buying clout and production scale who knows what price point they might be able to live with. The objective to get a tablet in the hand of each and every school kid must be be high on Apples list.

[eszklar]

I've got an HP Touchpad running Android (not an Ipad) that I purchased based on price during their firesale. At the time, I thought 10 inches would be to large, and hoped to see a 7 inch ipad made available. At $99 I had minimal expectations, and was quite fine with purchasing that size to see how I liked it.

Guess what? It turns out 10 inches isn't to large, and it goes pretty much everywhere I do. It can't do everything an Ipad can, and it is slightly heavier, but it does enough.

I have a HP TouchPad that I bought as well during last the Firesale last year and it is also running ICS. HP actually made a 7" version of the TouchPad, the Go I believe, but it was never released. Would have been interesting.

That being said, I love the 7" form factor of the PlayBook and QNX. The only other 7" device that remotely interested me was the Samsung Tab 7.7" (mainly for its OLED screen) and the Dell Streak 7 (phone and tablet - Dell could have owned this market if they had marketed and supported the phablet).

My take is that eventually one device will rule them all. I am particularly interested in my girlfriend's Galaxy Note and at 5.3" it is a very polarizing device. More so if Canonical can get Ubuntu-for-Android to take off. The other device that interests me is the ASUS Padfone - phone/tablet/netbook combo unit and again with Ubuntu-for-Android.

Finally, Win8. This will be very interesting.

[ekafara]

The current versions of iPods have a small screen and the device is mainly supposed to support music and video consumption. Perhaps you can do email and surf the web as ln a phone but it doesn't seem like that would be pleasant. If you want a tablet you wont buy an iPod. And don't expect that Apple is going to bring out a cheap,crummy 7" class tablet just because Jobs is gone. It will be at least as good as the iPad2. With Apple's buying clout and production scale who knows what price point they might be able to live with. The objective to get a tablet in the hand of each and every school kid must be high on Apples list.

If the difference in price between the 7" ipad and the ipod isn't very much people will either think the ipod is too expensive or the ipad is too cheap. If they ipod is too expensive they won't buy it and if they think the ipad is too cheap they won't buy it. I don't think they will be coming out with a 7" ipad, unless they do a whole revamp of their product line.

[torndownunit]

I completely agree. Size here wouldn't matter to people, if the iPad 2 was dropped to $299 it would cause another stampede in front of all the world's Apple Stores. According to the above calculation, Apple would make the same profit on a reduced-price iPad 2 than a new 7" iPad *and* not have to do anything at all. Designing an iPad at 7" is going to cost them a lot of money. Reducing the price on 10" iPad 2, in comparison, is simple and will earn them the same (if not more) profits.

Apple releasing a 7" iPad is competing with themselves. You couldn't have said it better in the above quote. Anyone who has NOT bought a tablet so far, is either waiting for a cheaper iPad (whether 7 or 10" they don't care) or they don't want to buy a tablet at all.... Because if they were using "screen size" as the excuse, well there are plenty of 7" tablets at $199 which already are on the market (Kindle Fire, Blackberry Playbook, and many others).

I highly doubt people would be saying they didn't buy an iPad because they were waiting for it to be 7" size. More likely, they are waiting for the iPad to be CHEAPER, because they want the iPad but cannot afford it (or justify the expense).

Actually, I could say that. I am mainly an Apple product user. I wanted a 7" tablet when I went tablet shopping and felt the Playbook was the best option by far. If a 7" iPad came out, I would give it a shot. There are still iOS apps that I have no alternative options for on my Playbook at this point (no, not Netflix or Skype) that I use on my iPhone. I just have never wanted a 10" tablet. I think 7" is a much better size.