Apple to launch smaller tablets?

As Tablet Race Heats Up, Apple May Try Smaller Device

With all the competition in the tablet market, rumors are rift that Apple might introduce a smaller tablet PC for the general market. But will Steve Jobs soul rest in peace after that?

Steve Jobs for one never agreed for a smaller tablet PC. He believed that smaller tablet PC destroyed dual purpose of tablets rendering them useless.

With Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Google Nexus 7 dominating the market and eventually trying to sideline Apple itself, Apple believes it is time for a revamp.

Revamps that will make sure Apple is the undisputed king of tablet PCs.

But Apple is hardly about to cede ground.

The company is developing a new tablet with a 7.85-inch screen that is likely to sell for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad, with its 9.7-inch display, according to several people with knowledge of the project who declined to be named discussing confidential plans. The product is expected to be announced this year.

Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Apple’s plan for a tablet with a smaller screen is part of a textbook business strategy: to lure customers who want different sizes of tablets into the iPad product family, say analysts and technology industry executives.

The strategy would most likely include devices with different prices and functions tailored to various uses, they say. The idea is to help Apple solidify its dominance in the tablet market even as the richest companies in the tech business are trying to figure out how to outflank Apple.

Leslie Grandy, a former Apple manager who is now a consultant and an adviser to start-up companies, says a smaller iPad could be especially appealing to people who do not now carry their iPads with them because they are too large and heavy.

While a seven-inch device is too big for pants pockets, Ms. Grandy said, it is a good size for women’s purses.