iPad: Apple 5 assets to boost its tablet - BBC

The group will present on Tuesday evening new iPad mini and iPad. Its tablet sales, competition from the Android models, are on the decline.

History repeats itself for Apple. One month after the presentation of its new iPhone, the group held a press conference Tuesday in San Francisco, where it will be iPad question. As with smartphones, it is to meet the stiff competition from Android tablets, which stop him nibbling market share.

During the second quarter, total sales of Android tablets have come to exceed that of the iPad, according to a study by ABI Research published late September. The combined sales of Android manufacturers in this market is also approaching the revenue generated by the iPad. The situation would not improve. According to projections by Morgan Stanley bank, Apple could have sold 13 million tablets between June and September, down 7% compared to the same period last year.

revive the iPad go through five points, according to analysts.

• An iPad 5 thinned and faster. Apple will review the design of the tablet, causing him to lose a few inches and several grams. The iPad 5 will approach the appearance of the iPad mini, including thinner and a smaller on the sides of the screen space edges. Apple was forced to weigh and thicken the tablet during the transition between the iPad 2 and iPad 3, to maintain the same autonomy despite the inclusion of high-definition screen. The iPad 5 will benefit from gains in energy management achieved since.

iPad 5 should have an A7 processor, the same found in the iPhone 5s. The presence of the digital fingerprint reader “Touch ID” and coprocessor movements, M7, is still uncertain. Since the introduction of the first iPad in 2010, its price has fluctuated between 489 and 509 euros. As every year, Apple will continue to sell in parallel with this new iPad 5 the previous generation model, the iPad 4, around 400 euros.

• A mini iPad with “Retina” screen. During the presentation of the small tablet there a year, the lack of high definition display (the “Retina”) disappointed the testers. A year later, Apple will reconsider its copy. The Wall Street Journal provides the mini iPad will include a “Retina” display, despite concerns raised production side of Apple’s Asian suppliers. This new tablet replacerait in the race compared to its competitors, including Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HDX. The iPad Mini would also be entitled to an A7 processor and photo sensors improved.

• A mini iPad entry level . If Apple applies to the iPad mini its usual range strategy, this means that it will continue to sell the first-generation model for a year. As for the classic iPad and iPhone, it allows him to drive prices down without compromising on margins too. At 339 euros today, the iPad mini is significantly more expensive than the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HDX, two direct competitors. A price reduced to 239 euros would call Apple again in the race.

• Free Software . The launch of iPhone 5s 5c and was accompanied by another new, passed rather unnoticed. Several Apple software is now available when purchasing a phone, a tablet or a Walkman brand. It is the word processor Pages, Numbers spreadsheet, presentation software Keynote tool iMovie editing and management application photos, iPhoto. For the launch of the iPad, Apple is expected to add his music application GarageBand software offered this lot, and take the opportunity to update.

applications have become the best way for Apple to differentiate the offer Android. More than 375,000 apps are optimized for the tablet. Importantly, more than half of the most downloaded free iPad or paid apps are not available in equivalent version on the Android store, Google Play.

• New accessories . The invitation sent to journalists by Apple, “We Still Have a lot to cover” (“We still have many things to tell you”) may contain a clue. Peter Misek, bank Jefferies & Co, suggested in a note that Apple could introduce a new cover for its tablets. A former employee of the brand revealed this weekend that a case prototype integrating a keyboard was developed in the labs of Cupertino, in the way that Microsoft offers with its tablet surface. This type of accessory allow him to convince more companies to abandon the PC to the iPad.