Post date: Oct 23, 2013 4:8:50 PM
BVO - PHIL SCHILLER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT PHIL SCHILLER :
"We call it iPad Air"
And with that Apple unveiled its newest offering - and its latest effort to stop the competition from taking market share.
While Apple is still the tablet leader- it's been losing ground.
The new iPad Air is lighter and 20 percent thinner- as expected.
The new iPad mini with retina was also unveiled- also as expected.
And new Macbooks and a Mac Pro were unveiled- as expected.
But in direct shot at rivals like Microsoft-Apple is going to give away the kind of stuff they charge for- including Apple's new Maverick operating system and iWork software.
Apple is even going after the enterprise business- holding its event on the same day Microsoft launched its business oriented Surface tablets- coincidence?
Kevin Burden of Strategy Analytics:
KEVIN BURDEN, DIRECTOR, MOBILITY, STRATEGY ANALYTICS:
"Probably not a coincidence at all. I think this was kind of an opportunity for Apple to show just how different they can be and how they can try to re-invent some of these models and turn these models on their heads. I certainly believe that when you look at what is happening with the iPad Air, this 64 bit consistent architecture across all of its devices, it's clear that even though Apple doesn't talk about directly going after the enterprise, they are building for the enterprise."
While Apple is still pricey- many price tags- like on the Macbooks- were chopped. And older models will stay on the shelves at even lower price points.
But still not as low as the competition- many, like Amazon's Kindle- check in at half the price of the iPad mini's.
What was missing? No iWatch, no Apple TV, and no one more thing.
KEVIN BURDEN, DIRECTOR, MOBILITY, STRATEGY ANALYTICS:
"It's hard to surprise us these days and it certainly seems tougher for Apple to keep all the leaks from getting out. Yeah it did kind of, it did kind of fall a little bit flat. I think a lot of us expected covers. I think we expected covers with batteries built into them or integrated keyboard covers."
And while CEO Tim Cook dismissed the competition as directionless, the iPad was introduced in 2010- and Apple hasn't had a new breakthrough product in years.