A business week article entitled ‘Can the Apple Touch sell the Tablet?‘ has this little bombshell courtesy Richard Doherty of Envisioneering Group -
“There’s no hotter topic [than tablets] in Asia right now,” says Richard Doherty, a director at market researcher Envisioneering Group, who says Apple has developed prototypes of two different tablet machines—one that resembles a large-sized iPod and boasts a 6-inch screen, and another that features a larger display. Apple may launch one or both devices as early as September.
He goes on to mention that the smaller one could be as cheap as $679.
The existence of two models, if true, is a rather important detail – it totally upends the notion that Apple is aiming at just entertainment and movies and has little interest in ebooks and ereaders.
While it can be argued that perhaps the 6″ iReader/ iNetbook targets the Nintendo DSi and the Sony PSP, the one segment of device it most definitely will end up targeting is eReaders.
Possible Impact on Kindle and the eReader market?
The article quotes Rob Enderle of Enderle Group -
If successful, the new tablets could steal some of the thunder now being kicked up by e-readers like the Kindle. “People will be making choices between this and the Kindle,” … “It could take up to 60% of Kindle sales.”
While a 60% share of Kindle sales is rather unlikely, especially as it is a multi-purpose device, a 6″ Apple iReader could steal 20-40% of Kindle sales.
It’s looking pretty straightforward now -
- A 6″ Apple iReader to take on Kindle and Sony Reader.
- A 10″ Apple iNetbook to take on Netbooks.
In our quest to figure out whether Apple is targeting netbooks or ereaders we forgot that it has the option to target both.
We might not have to wait long for Apple’s 6″ iReader and 10″ iNetbook.
Filed under: apple ibook reader Tagged: | apple ireader, apple netbook
Kindle is the king of book readers. It does what it does very well…download and read published books. The Kindle is connected to Amazon very well but it isn’t connected to ME. This is where Apple could crack the door with their iTablet.
$700 is way to expensive. Then add in the cost of downloading the books and other applications…I don’t think this is going to do damage to Kendle or Sony. It looks cool, but it is out of reach for the average person.