New Rumors In Regards To Apple's Popular iPad

There are two different stories making it's way around in terms of the iPad. At the iPad-centric event coming up on March 7th, Apple is supposed to introduce they're looking to make a 7.85-inch iPad to compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire and the increasingly popular line of 7-inch tablets. In addition, Apple stated they're looking to introduce a cheaper 8GB version of the iPad 2. Could both of these stories be true? Yes. Is one of them most likely a myth? Yes.

PCWorld gives us the low down about what the likelihood is of these rumors being true:

DigiTimes reports that makers in Apple's supply chain have started delivering samples of 7.85-inch iPads for verification, with volume production likely to begin in the third quarter of 2012 at the earliest. This is apparently to counter the increasing popularity of the Amazon Kindle Fire, but there are several arguments against this idea. 

Apple doesn’t need a Kindle Fire competitor. Apple sold 43.1 million iPads in 2011, according to the company’s financial numbers. Amazon holds the number two tablet spot with 3.9 million Fire sales last year, which is not too bad, considering the likes of Samsung are openly admitting they are not faring well in the market. 

The only problem with that is that Amazon is actually selling the $200 7-inch Fire at a loss, about $10 per unit, hoping to recover money through content sales on the tablet. Apple on the other had, is making hundreds of dollars from each iPad sold, so it’s unlikely Apple will try to sell a smaller iPad in a similar fashion, or at a small profit margin. That’s besides Steve Jobs’ very public outing of his dislike for 7-inch tablets. 

What Apple is likely to do in order to sell a cheaper iPad is perhaps look at its iPhone lineup. Speculation of a small-screen budget iPhone is always a hot topic before each iPhone launch, but instead of making a smaller, cheaper device, Apple always opted to reduce the storage on the previous model and sell it a discount: The iPhone 4 is now $99, replaced by the iPhone 4S at the $199 price point, and the 3GS is free with a two-year contract. 

This is where DigiTimes’ second report rings true: an 8GB iPad 2 to go along with the iPad 3. This would allow Apple to sell a cheaper tablet alongside the brand new iPad 3. Now, you could argue that 8GB on an iPad is not a lot of space; you could quickly find you are out of space, as many apps and games for the tablet are quite sizeable. If the 8GB iPad 2 becomes reality, it’s likely that it won’t have a 4G version either, leaving this for its newer sibling.