Depending upon who you ask, the seven month period between the “new iPad” and the fourth generation iPad (i.e. the new “new iPad”) may be a point of severe contention or an example of Apple iterating more quickly to keep pace with the market.
I actually believe it is a bit of Column A and Column B.
To refresh a consumer hardware product in the same year is perhaps a bit reckless when considering the impact to the brand and its ecosystem. Instantly, iPads bought just last week have lost more of their value. There really wasn’t a need for a refresh before next year but there perhaps was something else that Apple wants to capitalise upon, Christmas. Having a product out for nine months before Christmas comes around would require it to be specced up pretty well to stand up against competition who collectively iterate far more rapidly or, as some might describe it, flooding the market with all sorts of devices.
Apple needed a way to set themselves up for the Christmas sales without exposing their products to prolonged competition from other manufacturers. What it boiled down to was if seven months too short to wait or nineteen months too long to wait?
The other consideration is the pace at which Apple’s competition is gathering pace including a resurgent Microsoft armed with a slew of ARM and x86 tablets (with a couple of its self-branded tablets leading the charge). The app and content ecosystems are just as important, if not moreso, and these are areas where Microsoft and Google need to focus upon (Metro apps and more cohesive and available content respectively). Microsoft looks like it really has music sorted out with six months free music available upon the release of Windows 8 with its rebranded Xbox Music (formerly known as Zune).
However, I think these things are secondary to what Apple is most concerned about, specifically the Lightning connector. The iPhone 5 is stranded along with the latest iPod Touch as the only devices to use the new connector and either cash in on converters or make free money on licensing the connector to third party device manufacturers (such as sound dock manufacturers). Even with all of the new sales coming in, devices with the legacy dock connector far outnumber those with the Lightning connector. As such, Apple needed to turn the tide quickly particularly with Christmas approaching to push people in the direction of buying brand new gear compatible with the latest iOS devices using the new Lightning connector.
What better way to incorporate the connector into the iPad mini and the fourth generation iPad?
There will come a point where people will probably get annoyed with adapters or buying enough of them that they will just shell out for new peripherals that don’t require adapters. Furthermore, it’s not as if the iPad or iPad mini were that short of space that the move to a Lightning connector was absolutely necessary.
In my mind, this solidifies in my mind that the iPhone is the lead technology device for Apple and all other devices fall in behind it. However, Apple has had its bluff called on seven (or seven point nine) inch tablets but some might also call that a “bizarro world confirmation.” In saying that, Google is rumoured to be bringing out a ten inch tablet in collaboration with Samsung which takes the bizzaro world theme to a new level (although device manufacturers have had ten inch Android tablets out for ages).
All in all, Apple is doing what it can to defend its existing turf while laying down new turf and fleecing the flock along the way.
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