It’s
official dear Reader, the Apple iPad Air 2 and Apple iPad Mini 3 are set to
launch on Thursday October 16th 2014 as per the invitation shown
below that was sent on Wednesday October 8th 2014.
This
as announced in the article “Apple
Sends Out Invites For October 16 iPad And Mac Event”, published 8th October
2014, by Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch.
The Event is set to take place on at Apple’s Town Hall Theater in Cupertino at
1 Infinite Loop Drive and may see more than just Apple iPads being launched as
stated in the article “Apple
sets Oct. 16 event, with new iPad, Macs likely”, published October 8, 2014
9:05 AM PDT by Shara Tibken, CNET News.
It's
smaller than the Flint Center for the Performing Arts where the iPhone 6 and 6
Plus launch as detailed in my blog article
entitled “Apple
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus - No Sapphire Screen but 128GB Storage and
NFC-powered Apple Pay in Apple's Biggest iPhone Launch” took place and may
be a more cozy, personal affair.
It's
expected that some other products will be on display:
1. Mac
OS X Yosemite software for computers
2. Macintosh
PC
3. iMacs
Apple iPads are coming
- Gold Option and Touch ID as iPad Mini et al competes with iPhone 6 Plus
Last
year when Apple had launched the Apple iPad 5, which got rebranded the Apple
iPad Air and the Apple iPad Mini 2 on Tuesday October 22nd 2014 as
stated in my blog
article entitled “Apple
iPad Air, the World’s Lightest Tablet launched in Silver, Space Grey, White -
Christmas smartphone and Tablet Battle Royale as Winter is Coming”, I was
expecting Apple iPads with a Gold colour and Touch ID.
Instead,
we were treated to a Silver and Grey and White Apple iPad which also had gotten
a lot thinner to the point it got a new name; the Apple iPad Air.
Additionally,
no Touch ID Sensor like the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C that had been launched on
Tuesday September 10th 2013
as stated in my blog
article entitled “Apple
has launched the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C on Tuesday September 10th 2013 - Apple
iPhone Strategy is to Go Global to beat Samsung”, making this Apple iPad
Launch the year that it definitely will arrive on the iPad.
I’m
also expecting some serious hardware upgrades aside from the aesthetic changes
as touted in the article “iPad
Air 2 and iPad Mini 3: Apple issues invites to October 16 event”, published
October 8, 2014 By Malarie Gokey, DigitalTrends
falling in step with the Apple iPhone 6 and the Apple iPhone 6 Plus. These
improved specs include:
1. 32,
64, and 128GB storage options
2. Apple
A8 dual-core, 64-bit processor
3. Rear
Facing 8 Megapixel Camera
4. Front
Facing 1.2 Megapixel Camera
5. 9.7"
screen with 2,048 x 1,536 pixels resolution on the Apple iPad Air 2
6. Apple
iOS, the correctly working version on both iPads
Somehow,
I just don't see Apple Pay or Apple Healthkit on the Apple iPad, being as its
size makes it unwieldy and that already covered by the Apple Watch. Even more
interesting is that the 5.5" Apple iPhone 6 Plus may also compete against
the 7.9" Apple iPad Mini 3, being as they're very close in size, making
them competitors more than separate products.
Apple iPad Sales
falling - New Design to bolster their Second Biggest money maker
Smaller
cheaper Tablets and the growing but unlikely trend of phablets are already
eating away at Apple's Tablet marketshare based on the stats from IDC and NPD
Group as state in my blog article
entitled “IDC
and NPD Group record Tablet Decline and Phablet Rise - “White Box” Chinese
Tablets and Wearable Computing in First Quarter of 2014 making Tablets obsolete
in the Year of the Sheep”.
In
fact, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, the magical products record
setting growth pace is now over, as these same “White Box” Chinese Tablets and phablets sap its growth spurt as noted in
the article “Apple’s
iPad sales are not so magical after all”, published April 24, 2014 6:06 PM
PDT by Shara Tibken, CNET News.
The
Sales figures for the Second Fiscal Quarter of 2014 are telling:
1. 16.4
million iPads, less than the 9 million expected by analysts
2. 19.5
million sold in the Second Fiscal Quarter of 2013
3. The
Second Quarter of 2014, the most recent sales stats are below expectation
already:
4. 9%
decline in iPad sales
5. 13.3
iPads sold, less than the 14.4 million expected
In
the Fourth Quarter of 2013, bolstered by Christmas sales, the Apple iPad sold
some 26 million iPads. That's the last time the Apple iPad has seen such
stellar Christmas figures; since June 2013 Apple's sales have been declining 4%
year-on-year.
Apple iPad’s
competition – Bigger Apple iPad to face Microsoft Surface 3 Pro and Chromebooks
So
whatever Apple is coming with, they’re gotta pull out a cute fluffy White Rabbit
with the Big Guns to wow the crowd just like Steve Jobs did back in 2010 when
he’d first launched this “magical” device.
Some
of these cheaper Tablets competition are well known brands priced below US$250
in price on Amazon as I'd pointed out in my blog article
entitled “US$250
Tablets on Amazon – How 7” Tablets Trend means they’ll be your Christmas Gift”.
They
also have to make the Apple iPad productive for more than just Graphics Arts
people and those wishing to share documents without printing.
This
as Microsoft Surface 3 is now looking more like a solid alternative to the
Apple iPad and Laptops in general as stated in my blog article
entitled “Microsoft
launches Surface Pro 3 - Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 puts Kibosh on Tablets with
Apple having to make a larger Keyboard iPad” , especially as its packing
Office 365 and Microsoft OneDrive.
Apple
may thus be planning to debut a third Tablet in the 14” to 15” range with a
case that has a built in keyboard and preloaded with Microsoft Office 365 as
noted in my blog
article entitled “Apple
rumoured to be making a Laptop sized Tablet with a Built in Keyboard - Windows
8 Microsoft Surface and Chromebooks Barbarians after Bill Gates Rising Tide”.
I
would not be surprised, especially as they’ve done the same thing with the
Apple iPhone 6 Plus, effectively placing themselves in the phablet market as
noted in my blog
article entitled “Apple
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus - No Sapphire Screen but 128GB Storage and
NFC-powered Apple Pay in Apple's Biggest iPhone Launch”.
Aside
from Microsoft, they’ve got competition from the Google Chromebook, which may
gradually be eroding their marketshare as they head for tripe their less than
1% of the PC market by 2017 as predicted in my blog article
entitled “Chromebooks
Sales to Triple by 2017 – How Rapid Sales Heaven for PC Makers means Apple iPad
and Microsoft Surface Pro 3 under attack”
Such
a product, though far-fetched, makes sense as Tablets sales are falling and
making the Apple iPad productive would attract new users of the product.
Either
that or they can gradually watch their No. 2 moneymaker after the Apple iPhone
in terms of Sales and iTunes App purchases be eroded by smaller, nimbler “White
Box” Chinese Tablets and Phablets this Christmas season.
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