MARKETING NEW iPAD IN MARCH: An employee of a South Korean mobile carrier holds a Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet (right) and an Apple Inc's iPad tablet as he poses for photos in Seoul in this Aug 10, 2011 file photo. Apple is to launched iPad 3 in March which will sport a high-definition screen, and run on a faster processor and work with next-generation wireless networks.— Reuters photo
APPLE’S next iPad, expected to go sale in March, will sport a highdefinition screen, run a faster processor and work with nextgeneration wireless networks, according to three people familiar with the product.
The company’s manufacturing partners in Asia started ramping up production of the iPad 3 this month and plan to reach full volumes by February, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public.
The tablet will use a quadcore chip, an enhancement that lets users jump more quickly between applications, two of the people said.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is counting on the new model to ward off mounting competition in a market that Apple pioneered two years ago.
After its debut in 2010, the iPad emerged as the company’s secondbiggest source of revenue — after the iPhone — and inspired rival products from Amazon.com Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.
Apple has sold more than 40 million iPads, generating at least US$25.3 billion (RM81billion) in sales.
Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, said the company doesn’t comment on rumour and speculation.
The Cupertino, Californiabased company has been working on making the iPad compatible with a wireless standard called long- term evolution, or LTE, said one of the people. Carriers such as Verizon Wireless and ATT Inc.
are rolling out LTE networks to give users faster access to data.
Smartphone makers, including Samsung, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Nokia Oyj, have already introduced smartphones that work on the faster networks.
Apple is bringing LTE to the iPad before the iPhone because the tablet has a bigger battery and can better support the power requirements of the newer technology, said one of the people.
The new display is capable of greater resolution than the current iPad, with more pixels on its screen than some highdefinition televisions, the person said.
The pixels are small enough to make the images look like printed material, according to the person.
Videos begin playing almost instantly because of the additional graphics processing, the person said. The new iPad is being assembled by Apple’s main manufacturing partner, Foxconn Technology Group.
Like most technology companies, Apple contracts with companies in Asia for labour to assemble its devices.
Foxconn, which also builds the iPhone and other Apple products, gets about 22 per cent of its sales from Apple, according to supplychain data compiled by Bloomberg.
Mass production began at the start of this month, with factories running 24 hours a day in China, one of the people said.
Manufacturing will halt over China’s Lunar New Year holiday this month and then ramp back up to a peak in February, the person said.
The introduction of the new iPad will be Apple’s first major hardware release since the death of company co-founder Steve Jobs in October.
The company is hosting an education event focused on electronic textbooks next week that won’t include any hardware introductions, said a person familiar with the matter. — WPBloomberg