More 7-inch iPad rumors - Not likely to happen, people

> This is the second report of an iPad 2 sighting in Taiwan, and it comes from the island’s Chinese-language Economic Daily News financial newspaper, which was among the first to correctly report that Apple was making a tablet when other news sources said it would be a netbook. The [launch of the original iPad](http://www.macworld.com/article/145938/2010/01/tabletannouncement1.html) proved the paper correct. > > Taiwan’s Digitimes newspaper last week reported that Taiwanese companies were starting to assemble a 7-inch iPad for Apple. > > The Economic Daily reports that Taiwanese companies have won a number of component contracts for the iPad 2. Chimei Innolux will supply 7-inch LCD screens, which use the same IPS (in-plane switching) technology found in the original iPad, which improves viewing angles and color on LCD screens. Touchscreen technology for the screens will come from Cando Corporation, the report says. This one reminds me of all the “iPhone nano” rumors that floated around after the original iPhone was released. Still haven’t seen that one materialize, have we?

The most disturbing part is that everyone talks about a 7-inch iPad as if it were a good idea. It’s not.

To date, I’ve heard few complaints from users that the iPad is too big, or that the iPod Touch is too small. So why would this product need to exist?

The main reason given for why Apple would create such a product is price. A smaller screen, they figure, would cost less. But how much less? To Apple it’s probably a very small difference in component cost. $10, $20, maybe? Yet, people assume, Apple would charge $200 or $300 for this thing, which would mean they’d make far less money on each device sold. Lowering margins is not Apple’s usual M.O.

It’s amazing to me how quickly people forget how cheap the iPad already is. Remember, less than a year ago, everyone assumed the iPad would be $1000. The fact that they are selling it for $500 has literally caused the entire industry to go back to the drawing board, and to date not a single competitor to the iPad has emerged because of its extremely aggressive price. If it were possible to make money on a $200 or $300 tablet device, in other words, someone else would be doing it by now.

I expect the next iPad in January, with a front-facing camera likely, more RAM, maybe a slightly different processor, but with the same basic form factor.

Remember, for Apple, it’s about incremental changes, and it’s about maintaining a healthy software ecosystem. Adding new form factors would require a lot of UI rejiggering, add more complexities to the development community in making apps, and require yet another variant of iOS to constantly maintain. None of which would bring any real benefit to users. Apple already has a small tablet device—the iPod Touch—and a larger tablet—the iPad. Making something in between this early in the game makes little sense.