Apple unveils revamped iPads to beat back rivals

SAN FRANCISCO—Apple revved up its iPad line on Tuesday as it moved to fend off rivals which have eroded its dominance in the sizzling tablet market.

A slimmer version of its top-selling full-size tablet computer, dubbed the “iPad Air,” was announced along with a revamped iPad Mini with an improved high-definition display.

Apple shares fell as investors reacted to a lack of fresh products, but some analysts remained upbeat after the US tech giant unveiled upgrades to its tablets, notebooks and desktop computers along with free software to sweeten the deal.

“I think it is going to be a really strong holiday for Apple,” Gartner analyst Van Baker said after spending some hands-on time with the California company’s newest devices.

“The highlight of the day is the breadth of Apple’s announcement; this is apps, tablets, MacBooks, Mac Pro, software… It is very wide-ranging.”

The new iPad Air is 43 percent thinner than the version it replaces, weighs just one pound (450 grams), and is “screaming fast,” Apple vice president Phil Schiller said at the unveiling in San Francisco.

The upgraded iPad Mini has a high-definition “retina” display along with faster computing power and graphics.

Both new iPads feature the Apple-designed A7 chip with 64-bit “desktop-class architecture,” Apple said.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said he was not troubled by competition in the tablet space.

“Everybody seems to be making a tablet,” he told the audience. “Even some of the doubters are making them.”

But he said that notwithstanding sales figures, “iPad is used more than any of the rest, and not just a little more, a lot more.”

The iPad “is used over four times more than all of those other tablets put together, and this is what is important to us. People use it, and what is even more important to us, is people love it,” he said.

The two new iPads will be sold alongside the existing versions, starting Nov. 1 in more than 40 markets around the world.

The iPad Air will start at $499 and the new Mini version at $399 for US customers. Apple will cut the prices of the older iPad versions.

Apple announced upgrades for its MacBook line of notebooks and Mac Pro desktop computer, and announced its new operating system called Mavericks would be available as a free upgrade for those with existing Apple computers.

Strategic shift

In a strategic shift, Apple announced that iWork and iLife software suites for tasks from video editing to mixing music and making business presentations would be free for its mobile devices.

Baker said this is a smart move that can drive sales of hardware.

Like Google does with its online array of Docs applications, Apple will be making available for free productivity software that Microsoft sells to users of Windows-powered computers.

The new iPads come on the same day Microsoft began selling an upgraded version of its Surface tablet, and as Nokia unveiled its own tablet computer.

Industry tracker Gartner on Monday forecast that global tablet shipments will reach 184 million units this year—a 53.4 percent rise from last year.

The iPad remains the largest-selling tablet, according to surveys, but its market share is being eroded by rivals using the Google Android operating system.

Apple is also under pressure to adapt to the popularity of premium tablets with high-quality screens in the seven- to eight-inch (18- to 20-centimeter) range where the Mini competes.

Jan Dawson, analyst at the research firm Ovum, said Apple’s latest “represents a good enough boost to the previous version to trigger good upgrade sales and get iPad shipments growing again, which was a key objective for this launch.”

But Dawson said Apple is raising the price for the new Mini, unlike competitors: “It seems as though Apple is trying to push average selling prices for iPads back up again after they’ve dropped steadily over the past year… This is the clearest statement Apple could have made that it is only interested in competing in the premium tablet space.”

This means Apple’s share in tablets will continue to fall as Android’s share rises over the coming years, Dawson said.

Apple shares fell 1.5 percent to end at $519.87.

Thomas Husson at Forrester Research Apple offered no new breakthroughs but that this should not be expected.

“Yes, at some point, the company will need to disrupt a new market once again, but today’s announcement is really about making sure it maintains the premium brand experience for the holiday season when competition is heating up—not just for tablets but also for the amazing new line of Mac products,” Husson said.—Glenn Chapman

source: technology.inquirer.net

Apple offers to refund Australian iPad customers

SYDNEY — U.S. tech giant Apple on Wednesday offered to refund Australian customers who felt misled by advertising about the 4G capabilities on its new iPad, reports said.

Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission has taken Apple to the Federal Court for false advertising over its “iPad with WiFi + 4G” promotion because the popular tablet device does not work on the local 4G frequency.

Apple’s lawyers said the tech firm was prepared to publish a clarification about the iPad’s Australian capabilities and refund any customers who felt they had been misled by the 4G reference, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Paul Anastassiou, counsel for Apple, said in court that the company was confident very few people would apply for a refund.

Anastassiou added that Apple was not prepared to put corrective stickers on iPad boxes, as sought by the ACCC, but would email customers to clarify that the device was not compatible with local carrier Telstra’s 4G network.

However, Anastassiou said that when the matter came to full trial Apple would contest the ACCC’s claims that it had misled consumers because the latest-generation iPad did work on other Telstra frequencies.

“It will be contested by Apple there are in Australia networks that, according to international definitions, are 4G,” he told the court according to The Age newspaper.

“What Apple says is that other networks operated by Telstra are in fact properly described by international standards as 4G, even though Telstra itself does not so describe them.”

Anastassiou added that Apple had, “at no point in any promotional material… said at any time” that the new iPad was compatible with Telstra’s 4G network.

“No such representation, in our submission, is conveyed by the use of the acronym 4G in the name of the device,” he said according to The Australian newspaper.

source: japantoday.com

Apple announces dividend as iPad sales rocket

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple announced Monday it will spend part of its massive cash hoard to pay its first dividend since 1995, and trumpeted that it had sold three million new iPads on the opening weekend.

Apple also revealed plans to buy back $10 billion in shares while still adding to the billions it has in its coffers.

“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold—the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller.

“We can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday,” he continued, noting the new-generation of Apple’s coveted tablet computer will be released in two dozen more countries on March 23.

Apple stressed that its dividend and stock buy-back plan, which will tap into cash reserves of $98 billion, will not restrict its ability to invest in research, develop new products, or pursue valuable acquisitions.

“Innovation is the most important objective at Apple and we will not lose sight of that,” chief executive Tim Cook told analysts in a conference call. “These decisions will not close any doors for us.”

Apple said it would pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share from its cash balance generated from sales of its hugely successful gadgets like the iPad and iPhone.

The dividend payment would start with the quarter which begins in July.

Apple said it expected the repurchase program to be carried out over three years beginning October in an effort to neutralize the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs.

Chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer described the company as generating enough cash to easily accommodate the dividend—amounting to $10 billion a year—and the stock buyback without deeply impacting Apple’s resources.

In the company’s 2011 fiscal year, Apple generated $31 billion in surplus cash. In the first quarter of 2012, it added another $24 billion.

“That’s plenty of cash to run the business,” said Oppenheimer.

“We want to maintain the flexibility to take advantage of investment opportunities that present themselves.”

In total, including its employee stock options, Apple will spend $45 billion over the next three years on these programs, Oppenheimer said.

Apple shares climbed with the news, hitting $603.37 in trading that followed the close of the market.

Cook painted a strong picture for the company, especially in sales of its iPhone smart phones and iPads.

Analysts were pleased that Apple finally decided to loosen its purse strings and pay dividends but were unimpressed with the amount, which was described as below average for successful technology companies.

Apple is hauling in cash at such a breathtaking pace that its coffers are expected to continue swelling despite paying dividends and buying back stock.

Looking past the mountain of cash, some in Silicon Valley saw the dividend as the first major move distinguishing Cook’s style from that of his predecessor, legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs who died of cancer last year.

Jobs, who rescued Apple from the brink of bankruptcy, was tight-fisted when it came to Apple holding onto money.

In the company’s first quarter of this fiscal year—ended Dec 31—they sold 37 million iPhones, less that 9 percent of all handsets sold during the quarter.

The handset market will continue to grow, to about two billion units in 2015, and increasingly will favor smartphones, Cook said.

“It’s our belief that eventually nearly all handsets will be smartphones. So the potential for iPhones is enormous.”

Meanwhile, he predicted tablet computers will soon overtake personal computers, and said the iPad is well-positioned in that market.

The iPad has had “an amazing start,” selling 55 million since it was launched in early 2010.

“We had a record weekend and we’re thrilled with it,” he said of the new iPad launch.

source: japantoday.com

Apple fans snap up new iPad

TOKYO — Gadget lovers in Australia and Japan became the first people to snap up the new iPad on Friday, with Apple looking to tighten its grip on the tablet market with its third generation launch.

Just before the worldwide rollout began, New York-traded shares in the company shot above $600 for the first time, as investors looked to cash in on the anticipated success of the latest “must-have” device.

Following Sydney’s lead, more than 450 people queued outside the Apple flagship store in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district to be among the first to get their hands on the new iPad.

The latest version boosts a more powerful processor, increasing pressure on competitors including Google to make devices more enticing.

A key upgrade is its eye-grabbing screen resolution, or Retina display, which Apple says is the sharpest ever on a mobile device.

Ryo Takahashi, 25, who arrived at the Tokyo store wearing a head band saying “I am an iPad samurai!” said the new Retina display was a good enough reason to queue up.

“Once you start using the Retina display, you just cannot go back to the old one.”

Dozens of those waiting said they had begun their vigil last night, with some, including 19-year-old university student Ryo Watanabe having started even earlier.

“I am so excited. I finally got it. I waited for this for 36 hours,” he said as he emerged from the store with the brand new package in his hands.

“I have an iPad2 and use it all the time at school. I am looking forward to the clear display,” he said.

The new tablet is being released in Australia, the United States, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Britain and Hong Kong on Friday.

Anticipation ahead of the launch saw Apple shares briefly top $600 for the first time on Wall Street on Thursday before closing at $585.56. The stock has gained more than 50% in the past three months alone.

Australia was the first place to get the new device—for which Apple has abandoned its numbering system, opting to call it simply the “new iPad” instead of the expected iPad3.
Several hundred people were gathered outside the company’s Sydney store when it opened at 8 a.m.

But the first of the new iPads were not collected from Apple, instead from shops owned by Australian telecom giant Telstra in Sydney and Melbourne, which threw their doors open just after midnight.

However, the hype for Friday’s launch was not on the scale seen for the launch of iPad2, when people began camping out up to four days before.

Only one person had staked his claim outside by mid-afternoon Thursday and he was being paid to do so.

Former truck driver Steve Parkes began his vigil on Monday after being offered A$950 by a jobs site to line up wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the employment company’s logo.

The free publicity garnered by an Apple launch seems to have caught on, with others donning promotional shirts in front of the barrage of television cameras.

The new iPad also boasts an improved camera, more powerful processor and the ability to connect to the latest 4G LTE telecom networks in North America. However, in many markets it will still be stuck on the slower 3G networks.

The new tablet has generated good reviews worldwide but Rob Livingstone, an IT expert at Sydney’s University of Technology, said its success could be short-lived.

“It’s like any other technology, there’s always better, faster, sharper, newer five minutes after you’ve purchased the product you’ve just purchased, and the iPad’s no different,” he told AFP.

While the almost cult-like status of Apple shows no signs of waning among consumers, he suggested that with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs now dead the momentum could start to taper off.

“It makes me wonder, now that Steve Jobs has passed on, how long that momentum will last because it’s a competitive world,” he said.

“You look at (Samsung’s) Galaxy and a whole range of competitors are coming on with some very compelling offers, and I think time will tell whether Apple will lose some of its gloss.”

Jobs, the mind behind the wildly popular iPod, iPad and iPhone devices, died in October after battling pancreatic cancer.

source: japantoday.com

Apple delays delivery of new iPad by 2-3 weeks

NEW YORK — Apple said Monday that shipments of its new iPad to customers who order it online may take two to three weeks but that the tablet would still be available in stores on Friday.

Apple, which has set March 16 as the launch date for all sales of the third-generation iPad, said online pre-orders of the device had been going on since March 7.

However, a notice on the Apple website for the new iPad said: “Ships: 2-3 weeks.”

Apple last Wednesday unveiled the third-generation iPad, enhanced with features aimed at keeping it on top of the booming tablet computer market.

The new iPad boasts a more powerful processor, eye-grabbing resolution on par with that of an iPhone 4S, and the ability to connect to the latest 4G LTE telecom networks that move data faster than their predecessors.

It is due to be released simultaneously in 10 countries and territories: the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

An iPad with 16 gigabytes of memory and with both WiFi and 4G connectivity will cost $629 in the United States while a 32GB Wi-Fi/4G model will cost $729 and a 64GB version with WiFi and 4G will cost $829.

In a bid to cater to budget-minded shoppers, Apple will sell a 16GB version of the iPad 2 at a trimmed price of $399.

The new iPad screen was billed as the best display ever on a mobile device. The tablet also features a five-megapixel camera and high-definition video recording.

source: japantoday.com

Apple unveils new iPad, Apple TV box

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple unveiled a third-generation iPad on Wednesday enhanced with features aimed at keeping it on top of the booming tablet computer market.

The new iPad will go on sale March 16 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A week later, it will go on sale in 25 more countries.

The new iPad boasts a more powerful processor, eye-grabbing resolution on par with that of an iPhone 4S, and the ability to connect to the latest 4G LTE telecom networks that move data faster than their predecessors.

“We think that iPad is the poster child of the post-PC world,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said, noting that iPad sales topped those of any personal computer maker during the final three months of last year.

“We have redefined once again the category Apple created just two years ago with the original iPad,” Cook said at a press event in San Francisco, the first major product release by Apple since the death of founder Steve Jobs.

The new iPad will be priced the same as the previous models, which start at $499 for the most basic iPad featuring wireless connectivity only.

An iPad with 16 gigabytes of memory and with both Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity will cost $629 in the United States while a 32GB Wi-Fi/4G model will cost $729 and a 64GB version with Wi-Fi and 4G will cost $829.

In a bid to cater to budget-minded shoppers, Apple will sell a 16GB version of the iPad 2 at a trimmed price of $399.

The new iPad screen was billed as the best display ever on a mobile device. The tablet also features a five-megapixel camera and high-definition video recording.

Apple said the latest model has the same 10-hour battery life as its predecessor, with the span cut by about an hour with constant use of high-performing 4G telecom networks.

The third-generation iPad weighs 1.4 pounds and is 9.4 mm thick, slightly heavier and slightly thicker than the previous model.

Apple showed off an enhanced suite of iPad applications for tasks ranging from movie editing to making music or managing one’s life.

A new iPhoto application turns the iPad into a slick tool for editing pictures with simple touches or automated features.

Epic Games president Mike Capps joined Cook to show off a version of the Infinity Blade video game for the iPad, contending the quality was comparable to video game console play.

“It is an evolutionary upgrade with a lot of revolutionary features,” said Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg. “It is going to put a lot more pressure than before on iPad competitors.

“The updates to GarageBand, iMovie, and the new iPhoto will drive this going forward,” Gartenberg said.

“At the end of the day, it isn’t going to be Tim Cook that sells the iPad, it is going to be the iPad that sells the iPad; and they are going to sell a lot of them,” he said.

Apple’s App Store has more than 200,000 mini-programs, or “apps,” tailored for the iPad with offerings including books, games, and software designed for getting work done.

Apple has dominated the tablet market since launching the iPad two years ago and few expect that to change anytime soon.

IMS Research predicted that Apple would increase its tablet market share to 70% in 2012 from 62% in 2011 and it will ship 70 million iPads this year, up 71% over the previous year.

“Apple’s insistence on blending hardware innovation with services innovation will keep the iPad at the front of the tablet pack for the foreseeable future,” said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

Apple real-world stores will be “critical” since the high-resolution screen is the major improvement in the iPad, and it needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

“It is astoundingly beautiful, but people are going to have to get it in their hands to see this,” Baker said.

A new dictation-taking feature could be a stumbling point for the iPad, since that type of technology has proven to be a bane to other companies, according to independent analyst Rob Enderle of Silicon Valley.

The California-based gadget-maker on Wednesday also released an updated Apple TV box used to stream movies, television shows and other content from the Internet to high-definition TV sets.

The new box features a streamlined new user interface and will sell for the same $99 price as the previous model.

Apple TV was synched with iCloud, on online content storage service that lets people buy films or television shows on the box but have the options of watching them on iPhones, iPads, iPod touch devices, or on computers.

Apple released the first version of Apple TV in 2007 but it has never really caught on with the public.

The iPad event was the second Apple product launch by Cook since he took over for Jobs, and both events showcased improved versions of products.

“Let’s wait and see if Apple can bring an astounding new class of product to market,” Baker said. “Ultimately, they need to do that.”

Investors appeared unsurprised by Apple’s announcements, with the company’s stock price inching up slightly to $531.05 a share in trading on the NASDAQ.

article source: japantoday.com