iPad production already ramping down in prep for new model
updated 05:30 pm EST, Wed December 29, 2010
December production on par with Kindle
Apple is currently slowing down iPad production in preparation for a second-generation tablet, says Concord Equity's Ming-Chi Kuo. The analyst claims that production has dropped to 1.6 million this month from 2.1 million units in November. Kuo suggests that a second-generation iPad will be announced in January, but this may be unlikely, as Apple typically limits the month's hardware revelations to minor updates unless a device is first-generation. The original incarnations of the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air were all announced in the same month during different years.
iPad production is now equal with that of the Amazon Kindle, observes Kuo. The latter is said to be on a sales upswing. "Kindle is going to mass market from niche market," says Kuo, suggesting that it "is not obvious" that the popularity of the iPad is eating into the Kindle's. The iPad is a more expensive general-purpose tablet, whereas the Kindle's e-ink display is intended exclusively for books, magazines and newspapers.
Kuo estimates that Kindle shipments will total 4.5 million in Q1 2011 alone. Some 5.4 million are believed to have been sold since a third-generation model became available in August, featuring a better display and a cheaper price.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2010
Perfect timing
iPad sales peak in the holiday quarter, so the ideal time to start producing the new model is just after that. Ideally (for Apple) iPad 2.0 would be ready to ship immediately after CES, since that's when the iPad wannabes will either announce vaporware or announce products that are still trying to mimic the old model iPad. Sweet for Apple, painful for the wannabes.
The iPad-wannabes will only have a narrow window of publicity. And even during that window at CES, all pad computers, laptops, netbooks, media players, and internet TV devices will be compared against Apple products. Free publicity for Apple all day, every day, live from CES.
Then, when the new iPad ships, it will kill media attention on the wannabes with actual shipping products. (Those that don't will just head straight back to the drawing board for a mid-year release of their copycat designs.) Apple then has 9 or 10 months to roll out iOS updates and hype iPad 2.0 for the holidays once again.