Barely a month after Apple announced two new iPhone models, the tech giant is back again with reports the company will debut new versions of the iPad on October 22.
The official announcement is expected soon. Over the past few years Apple has moved its product announcement schedule closer to the holiday season in order to maximise sales and profit.
It comes during a curious time for Apple. Although the iPhone 5c and 5s models exceeded sales expectations during their first weekend of availability, shares in the company have continued to fall. In the past month, shares are down 3.47%.
All Things Digital has reported the next iPad event will take place on Tuesday, October 22, with the company also set to show off the new Mac Pro and OS X Mavericks software.
While the report is based on unnamed sources, well-connected Apple blogger Jim Dalrymple followed up the report on his blog with this trademark “yep”, all but confirming the event will go ahead on that day.
So what’s expected later this month?
For one thing, the fifth version of the iPad is expected to come with a thinner body more akin to the iPad Mini, released last year, and a higher-quality camera. The A7 chip inside the iPhone 5s is also expected to be included.
The iPad Mini is also set to receive an upgrade to the Apple signature “retina” display. There is some speculation as to whether the iPad Mini or the new, larger iPad will feature the fingerprint sensor inside the iPhone 5s model.
Apple’s dominance in the tablet market remains solid, and there is plenty of room for growth – recent figures from Gartner show that by 2017, half of all new first-time computer purchases will be a tablet.
However, now would be a good time to see a lift in iPad sales. Although market share remains strong, in the June quarter iPad sales dropped 14% year-on-year to 15 million units.
The release of several low-cost tablets may be responsible for the trend.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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