iPad 3 Release Date

While some rumors remain just that, the build situation regarding Apple’s iPad seem to inch closer to fact and reality. According to Peter Misek of Jefferies & Co., “we have confirmed the iPad 2 build plans have been scaled back.” From an estimated 13.6 million units, this has been reduced to just about 12 million units for the last quarter of the calendar year.

As for reasons, Misek claims a few, although with going too deeply into his sources. He claims that

1) iPad 2 HD was canceled (~1M units retooled); 2) Sooner-than- expected iPad 3 launch in late Jan; 3) Retail inventory caution due to potential demand slowdown; 4) Some production shift to Brazil. We see 29M iPads shipped in H2 vs. 14M in H1. We trim our 2011 global tablet forecast from 70M to 65M.

Peter Misek

He said that the lower iPad shipments may still compensated for by the sales of iPhones. His iPhone estimate is 28.7 million units, a figure that is higher by 3 million units for the fourth quarter. This number will improve gross margin. And so Misek raised his December-quarter EPS estimate from $8.85 to $9.17. Today, Apple shares are up $2.38 at $401.64.

While most Apple fans would not want to hear it, there is a lot of trouble brewing for the iPad3. As if the amount of speculation and gossip circulating isn’t enough, most analysts believe that the tablet will only taste the shelves on a store next year.

Rumors are entertaining, but there are realities that the iPad 3 is going to face when it finally hits consumer market. There are challenges that the iPad 3 has to endure.

With HP giving its TouchPad tablet away for $99 and Amazon talking tablets with its AmazonMP3 offering, Apple must tread carefully lest it prices wrong the iPad 3. The release date of the iPad 3 is still part of speculation, whether it is offered in fall or in spring. Maybe it is time for Apple to consider the dangerous possibility of losing consumers, turned off by tech costing $499 and up.

The only song Apple’s competitors have to play is the price song. In fact, Apple seems to have been affected a bit. Apple ultimately decided to let last year’s iPhone model go for less than fifty dollars, even when the current model costs four times more. Many anticipated the same move regarding the iPad 2. As expected, the same move never happened. The original iPad stuck around for some reduced $399 or even $299 price. That move never happened. The iPad 2 was offered at the same price points as the iPad, which was eventually discontinued.

The iPad 2 is very similar to the original iPad. So it’s not hard to think that Apple must be planning for a totally different new iPad. This new iPad must have been in the works even before the iPad 2 was launched, since the iPad 2 appears to be just a polished iPad. This new revolutionary remaking of the iPad should be ready now, right? As if handling the onslaught of questions of when the iPad 3 is coming out, the pricing is still something for Apple to seriously consider.

One option is to stick to the current price range, which is $499 and up. After all, the iPad is already as inexpensive as the cheapest of desktop computers. It is Apple’s prediction that tablets would soon make desktop PCs obsolete. It has also claimed that its tablet is neatly placed in the value-based category price range. Or Apple can play safe and give the iPad away for $399. This could give a good starting point for upping the price of the iPad 3. Apple could also do something dramatic: reduce the price of the iPad 3, while maintaining the same quality of the parts. Or sell the iPad 3 for less, but with components that are cheaper.

With a new CEO and with more drive from competitors, Apple is facing a new era. Pricing is always decisive, whether that of Apple’s new iPad, the failed tablet computers of competitors or the soon-to-come tablet of would-be competitors.

While 2012 means a lot of things to many people, this is also the year when we can expect the iPad to sport Apple’s latest chip tech. There’s nothing easy when releasing new processor technology. If it was hard for Intel, then Apple would be no exception. The Linley Group, a chip consulting firm, claims that the “A6” would not appear in the iPad 3 sooner than 2012.

According to Linley Group senior analyst Kevin Krewell, the A6 not only contains four processor cores, but will also utilize 3D technology. The previous Apple processor, A5, only has 2 cores. Krewell was cited in the Taiwan Economic News saying this. Coincidentally, Intel also announced to have 3D technology sometime in May. Apple has a new contract chip manufacturer in the company of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). It is worth taking note that the A5 processor is made by Samsung.

“This pace would make the A6 one of the first 28 mobile processors to enter production. This schedule, however, breaks Apple’s annual processor-upgrade cycle and will delay any products using the A6 until at least June 2012,”  Krewell claims.

But if the iPad 3 is launched early in 2012, this will have to use the same A5 processor, just like the current iPad 2. Although there’s a rumor that it will be using the new high-resolution Retina display, predicts Krewell.

Krewell further predicts that the quad-core A6 will be at par with the best mobile processors of the following year. Notable of these is the expected quad-core offering of Nvidia. This chip is rumoured to power both  Android and Windows 8 devices. This necessarily includes both tablets and laptops. “Fabricating Apple’s A6 in 28nm (instead of the 40nm process Nvidia is using for its quad-core part) will reduce both die cost and power, yielding a much better product,” he said.

TSMC’s 3D technology for Apple’s A6 chip “could use 3D stacking to incorporate additional DRAM or flash memory, or to boost interconnect speed,” Krewell explains.

The author of the Linley Group’s report, Kevin Krewell, also said that the “3D Technology referred to in the Taiwan Economic News report is a way to stack and electrically connect die vertically. It could be used to connect memory die directly to the A6 SoC die. The Intel 3D technology is a transistor design where the transistor structure sticks out of the die (giving it a vertical dimension). Other chip manufacturers call it ‘FinFET’ to avoid confusion with other ’3D’ technologies.”

Good things are said to come to those who wait. We hesitate to apply the same logic to the iPad 3. With all the drama from the stepping down of Steve Jobs as Apple’s CEO and the undeniable delay of the next iPhone, it seems comical that now there is a dispute whether the iPad 3 would be released this fall with the iOS 5. This gives ample time for everybody. Consumers can ponder the wisdom of their purchase of the iPad2, while competitors can spend more time how to reverse engineer the iPad 1.

The release of the iPad 3 has long been kept in the hush hush. Originally set for release in the first quarter of 2012, the people working on this highly-anticipate piece of tech suddenly find they are shocked. Consumers now seem to don’t care at all. They’re happy buying the iPad 2, which appears to be on everyone’s wish list. This calm will continue until people once again start asking the question of whether to buy or to wait.

When do you think the iPad 3 is coming?

Recent news has surfaced regarding which company will actually be producing the iPad 3.  The Taiwan Economic News report that the Taiwan based Pegatron manufacturer has won the deal against Foxconn who are the current manufacturers of the Apple iPad.

This is the second time Pegatron have won a big contact from Foxconn, the first being another recent deal consisting of the production of 15 million iPhone 5 units.  It looks like Apple are learning from their mistakes of the past with shortages happening globally very quickly for the previous iPhones.

There are a few reasons Apple could be going elsewhere for its production of future models, back in May a Hon Hai (parent company of Foxconn) factory in Chengdu experienced a deadly explosion killing 3 and injuring 16.  Hon Hai’s shares drastically fell because of this and the  supply of Apple products came to a halt from the Chengdu factory.

It would appear Pegatron had best pull up their socks to meet the rumoured release date of the iPhone 5 in September and the iPad 3 in November this year.

The second week of September, that is a week to be excited about.  Well we wouldnt get too excited because this is still, as you might of guessed, just a rumour.  A recent article in the China Times is claiming that we can expect to see the release of the iPhone 5 in September.

The China Times doesnt exactly have a flawless track record with these release dates but they do have connections with the suppliers of the components for the iPhone so it is a possibilty someone could have leaked some information to them.

A trial run of 400,000 units is being cooked up as we speak (apparently) although it wont be enough to meet the intial orders that are in the 4,000,000 mark.

The article not only mentioned the iPhone 5 but also the next apple tablet, the iPad 3.  Supposedly (i swear these papers just make these things up to get readers) the iPad 3 release date has been postponed and is now penned in for a Late November/Thanksgiving release.

It makes sense to release the iPad 3 around the holiday season, its just plain business sense.  Release something in the period when people are buying gifts for one another.  So the Thanksgiving iPad 3 release date is a good possibilty.  For some reason though, i have a gut feeling that we wont see the iPad 3 till next year, dont ask me why or how, its just a feeling.