We need a new iPad, which would have done the same as the iPhone 5c
Makradar Technologies / / December 19, 2019
Ian Betteridge (Ian Betteridge), the author of the site Macgasm, ponders the questionWhy Apple needs a budget tablet, similar to the iPhone 5c in the line of smartphones.
"Without a doubt we can say that 2013 - the year of the tablets. The market is replete with them, and although Apple is no longer dominates the market, as it once was, the company remains the largest player. And if Apple does not want to give up their positions, it is necessary to reflect on how to take all possible price niches.
If there is a gap in the budget level that competitors can use - we are talking about so-called "umbrella prices' (when leading company maintains prices set) - it is likely that the company could be "only" a successful seller in its niche.
It would be surprising if Tim Cook did not know about the potential danger of "price umbrella". Talking about the iPhone at a conference in 2009, Cook insisted that the company will avoid "price umbrella" for its customers. And the company as long as it manages the situation with the phone thanks to conservation strategies in the market iPhone models the previous two years (plus the emergence of iPhone 5C).
But iPad and iPhone - these are different devices that occupy different positions in the market. As for the iPhone, in part "umbrella" Always close the subsidies, which are paid to the operators. The price of the iPhone 5C can be equal to $ 550, but most people will pay less than $ 100 for a smartphone with a contract - so competitors remains less space. In addition, iPhone 4S all goes free with a contract. So in the field of smart phones Cook pretty well succeeded in his desire to eliminate the "umbrella".
With the iPad is more difficult. The tablet is usually sold at full price, and that means, Apple need to work hard in order not to reveal the "price umbrella". Clearly, the company hardly got involved in the fight against, for example, superdeshovym Hudl from Tesco - and the meaning. She has a serious competitor: price for a higher quality of Google's Nexus 7 starts at 229 dollars (for compared with $ 299 for last year's iPad mini), this model is not only cheaper and fresher, but also has the best functionality. To get as good a screen like the Nexus, you need to spend $ 399, which is an impressive difference in price. For example, if you are a parent with two children, each of whom wants the plate, this difference is becoming painful.
To get to this part of the market, Apple need a device for about $ 249, and, preferably, not last year's model, and something new - in general, 5C equivalent among the iPhone line. Can Apple make such a device? In the end, I'm sure it's possible. But at the moment Apple avoids overly aggressive pricing and obviously believes that we should not apply it where everything and so "pretty good." If there is the equivalent of the iPhone 5C in development, we are unlikely to see him soon. "