Will Santa be bringing you a 5.6 or 7 inch iPad for Christmas this year? We doubt it very much, but not everyone share our skepticism. The good folks over at Digitimes are reporting that Apple will likely roll out 2 new iPad form factors with OLED displays in time for the festive season.
We know how popular the Apple iPad has become and we can understand the temptation to believe Apple could extend the product range even further, but the fact is... they already have. If you want a smaller iPad then there's the iPod Touch, small enough to fit in your trouser pocket with virtually all the same features. On the other hand, if you want a bigger iPad then you'll be in Apple MacBook price territory, that is unless you want a tablet that's too heavy to hold up!
It seems very unlikely apple would cannibalise sales of both it's laptop range AND it's iPod range, both of which are selling at records levels. With too many products to choose from, Apple would struggle to justify each and every one of them to it's target audience.
On top of all this is the fact that OLED displays, which Digitimes also expect will be used, are in short supply. So short in fact, that HTC, makers of the popular HTC Desire and Nexus One smartphones have had to swap out their OLED displays for standard LCD equivalents. This is all thanks to the display manufacturer Samsung using them all in their new Galaxy S series of smartphones.
Apple have a tendency to launch new iOS based products on a yearly basis, something they do like clockwork with both the iPhone and Apple iPod ranges. We expect this will be the same for the iPad, one revision each year sometime between late spring and early summer ahead of the next version of the Apple iPhone.
THese are our thoughts, but we're interested in hearing what you guys think so please join the debate in the comments section below...
