By Adam Satariano and Peter Burrows - Mar 8, 2012 4:10 AM GMT+0700
Apple Inc. (AAPL) introduced a new version of the iPad, beefing up the two-year-old mobile computer with a sharper screen and faster chip to widen its lead over Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Google Inc. in the tablet market.
The device will be called iPad, carry a price tag of $499 to $829 and include an A5X chip that enables better graphics, Apple said today at an event in San Francisco. It will also boast a 9.7-inch screen that has more pixels than traditional high-definition televisions and run on so-called long-term evolution, or LTE, wireless networks, which deliver data faster.
Media view the new Apple iPad in San Francisco on March 7, 2012. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., Walter Piecyk, an analyst at BTIG LLC, and Eric Jackson, president and founder of Ironfire Capital LLC, offer their views on Apple's new iPad and the outlook for the company. The device will be called iPad, carry a price tag of $499 to $829 and include an A5X chip that enables better graphics, Apple said today at an event in San Francisco. Kevin Dede, technology analyst at Auriga USA, and Michael Holland, chairman of Holland & Co., also speak. (Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., introduces a new version of the iPad mobile computer and an update of the Apple TV set-top box. The new iPad, which will cost $499 to $829, includes an A5X chip that enables better graphics and boasts a 9.7-inch screen that has more pixels than traditional high-definition televisions. Apple's Phil Schiller, senior vice president of product marketing, and Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet software and services, also speak at the event in San Francisco. (Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., introduces a new version of the iPad, beefing up the company's two-year-old mobile computer with a 9.7-inch screen, a retina display like the one on the most recent iPhone, a faster chip and a body that’s similar to previous iPads. He speaks at an event in San Francisco. (This is an excerpt from the event. Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., says the company has "its feet firmly planted in the post-PC future." He speaks at an event in San Francisco. (This is an excerpt from the event. Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., and Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet software and services, unveil an update of the Apple TV set-top box, which features a new user interface and a so-called mirroring function that allows video from a user’s mobile devices be played on TV. They speak at an event in San Francisco. (This is an excerpt from the event. Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Phil Schiller, senior vice president of product marketing at Apple Inc., outlines features of a new version of the iPad, which comes with a 9.7-inch screen, a retina display like the one on the most recent iPhone, a faster chip and a body that’s similar to previous iPads. He speaks at an event in San Francisco. (This is an excerpt from the event. Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Scott Galloway, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business and a Bloomberg contributing editor, and Bloomberg Industries analyst Anand Srinivasan talk about Apple Inc.'s new iPad. The device will be called iPad, carry a price tag of $499 to $829 and include an A5X chip that enables better graphics, Apple said today at an event in San Francisco. They speak with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television's "Taking Stock." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Holland, chairman of Holland & Co., and Eric Jackson, president and founder of Ironfire Capital LLC, talk about Apple Inc.'s new version of the iPad and the outlook for the company. (Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- David Kirkpatrick, author of "The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World," talks about the outlook for Apple Inc. and the technology industry. He speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Walter Piecyk, an analyst at BTIG LLC, talks about technology stocks including Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Pandora Media Inc. Piecyk, speaking with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday," also talks about delays in government allocation of spectrum and the impact on consumers. (Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Dave McQueen, an analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, previews Apple Inc.'s launch of its new iPad. He talks with Maryam Nemazee on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Heather White, a network fellow at Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, talks about working conditions at Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn Technology Group. White speaks with Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Television's "Money Moves." (Source: Bloomberg)
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., in San Francisco on March 7, 2012. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Apple Inc.'s newest version of the iPad. Apple Inc. introduced the new version of the iPad, beefing up its two-year-old mobile computer with a sharper screen to widen its lead over Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. in the tablet market. Source: Apple Inc. via Bloomberg
Members of the media look at the new version Apple Inc.'s iPad during an Apple event in San Francisco. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is making the most significant upgrade yet to Apple’s tablet months before Microsoft introduces new software that will run on competing devices. The new version is also aimed at helping the company fend off competition from Google (GOOG)’s Android operating system, as well as Amazon.com, whose $199 Kindle Fire is gaining traction among budget-conscious buyers.
“This product refresh allows Apple to maintain its leadership position in the quickly-growing tablet market,” said Bill Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, who has a “buy” rating on Apple.
The new iPad will be available March 16, and Apple is taking orders starting today. AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless will be the first U.S. wireless carriers to sell the new device. Telus Corp. (T), Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI/B) and BCE Inc. (BCE) will carry the new iPad in Canada.
Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple gained less than 1 percent to $530.69 at the close in New York.
Apple TV
The overhaul will help draw both new customers and existing owners who want new features, said Carl Howe, an analyst at Yankee Group.
Apple gets about 20 percent of its sales from the iPad, attracting consumers as well as business users. With the device’s mix of touch-screen capabilities and computing power that puts it on par with some laptops, Apple has created a new category of consumer-electronics devices.
Cook also unveiled an update of the Apple TV set-top box with a new interface and a so-called mirroring function that lets video from a user’s mobile devices be played on TV. Photos taken from an iPhone will wirelessly synch using Apple TV. The device will cost $99 and also go on sale March 16.
Apple cut the price on the low end version of its existing iPad to $399 from $499. That may put a squeeze on the Kindle Fire, said Chris Jones, an analyst at Canalys, a research firm.
Price ‘Pressure’
“It will put pressure on those who are trying to undercut the iPad on price,” said Jones. “The market has changed in the past few months with the arrival of Amazon.”
Apple has sliced the price of older models to attract bargain-hunting shoppers when unveiling a new product aimed at the high end, a pincer movement used with success on the most recent iPhone. When Apple introduced the iPhone 4S in October, it reduced the iPhone 4 price to $99 and the made the iPhone 3GS free, with a two-year wireless contract.
According to market research firm Gartner Inc., 103.5 million tablet devices will be sold in 2012, with Apple accounting for two-thirds of those. The figure will rise to 326.3 million in 2015.
The company’s share will drop to 46 percent by 2015 as Google’s Android gains customers and Microsoft enters the market.
Amazon’s Gains
Tablets introduced by Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM), Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) haven’t gained much interest. Amazon’s Kindle Fire, on sale since November, has lured buyers because of its lower price, and Amazon’s website gives it a sales channel on par with Apple’s retail stores, said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. Amazon’s selection of movies, music and applications also is appealing to customers, she said.
“Tablets are about services,” said Rotman Epps. “That’s why Amazon has succeeded where others have failed.”
A new wave of tablets will be entering the market with Microsoft’s introduction of Windows 8, a remake of the company’s flagship operating system intended to work more easily with smartphones and tablets. Hewlett-Packard has said it will introduce a tablet using the software, which analysts expect will be released later this year.
While Windows 8-based products are being completed, Apple may sell 11.3 million iPads in the quarter ending March 31, more than double unit sales from a year earlier, according to Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group in San Francisco.
Microsoft’s Delay
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, will eventually become a strong competitor, though the longer Windows 8 takes to hit the market, the harder it will be to gain traction with customers, said Rotman Epps.
Apple may sell 60 million iPads in all of 2012, ISI predicts, about 50 percent more than last year. Apple is the largest maker of personal computers if the iPad is included in the count, according to Canalys.
The iPad has helped make Apple the world’s most valuable company, worth $494.8 billion based on today’s closing stock price. Since the device went on sale in April 2010, Apple’s stock has risen 125 percent and quarterly sales have almost tripled.
One reason Apple has been able to maintain a dominant share of the tablet market is that wireless carriers don’t play as prominent a role in sales as they do with smartphones, Howe said. Customers visiting a Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) store are often steered to a smartphone running Google’s Android software instead of an iPhone, he said.
Apple also benefits from its chain of more than 360 retail stores and the thousands of applications that are tailored specifically for the iPad, said Forrester’s Rotman Epps.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net; Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment