iPad 3 Release Date

‘The new iPad’ is revealed and now the debate moves from features to market share and dominance. Though the new iPad is not radically different from iPad 2 look wise, analysts believe that people will flock to buy the third-generation tablet. Of course we cannot forget the fantastic sales of iPhone 4S even though it looked similar to iPhone 4. If Siri was the big differentiator for iPhone 4S, the retina display might just do that trick for the new iPad 3. Isn’t it amazing how the little senses like talking, hearing and touching do the trick for Apple? 4G LTE might also be attracting the restless consumers for whom 3G is passé.

According to research firm IHS iSuppli Apple will gain global tablet market share increasing it from 57 percent in Q4 2011 to 61 percent. According to Rhoda Alexander, Senior Manager of IHS, “Apple is resetting the bar for the competition”. None of the iPad competitors are able to compete with Apple on the technical features. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook clearly alluded to this in the beginning of the iPad event by saying that only Apple can beat itself and no one else.

Apple’s $100 price drop on iPad 2 will also do the trick in attracting other Android tablet customers. With still no sight of the release date of Windows 8, Apple will enjoy its lion share of the tablet market. According to IHS Apple will be selling around 75.3 million iPads in 2012 against 48.3 million of all other tablets. And with a pile of cash and a string of new product cycles like LTE enabled iPhone 5 and iTV down the line, there’s no stopping Apple. Till the time Microsoft pulls a rabbit out of the hat, trade analysts will be busy giving ‘strong buy’ calls on Apple. Should we be buying Apple shares also along with the new iPad 3?

According to sources at Bloomberg, Apple’s next iPad is all set for a March release. As speculated widely, it will sport a high-definition screen, a faster quad-core processor chip and work with next-generation wireless networks. Apple’s Asian manufacturers are ramping up the production of iPad 3. There will be a break during Chinese Lunar New Year holidays before peaking up again in February.

Features like high-definition display and quad-core processors are already expected. The feature that evokes more interest is LTE (Long Term Evolution). Our previous post talked how there is a clash going on between iPad 3 and iPhone 5 regarding who will feature LTE first. Now it seems that LTE will debut first on iPad before iPhone. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the main reason for this is because iPad comes with a bigger battery and can better cater to the power requirements of LTE. 4G networks provide faster data, but they require a higher-power radio and thus drain battery faster.

Apple has a tendency to wait for mobile technologies to reach critical mass before featuring them on their devices. We noticed the same in case of 3G. The original iPhone came with the slower 2G EDGE technology even though 3G technology was available at that time. Recently iPhone 4S came without featuring 4G. It might be also possible that Apple does not want to endorse 4G carriers at the expense of 3G carriers. iPhone has become such an important part of many people’s lives and it seems Apple doesn’t want to test a power-hungry LTE on it. iPad is still a luxury additional device and not a lifeline like iPhone for many.