Call it Apple’s marketing strategy or overzealous apple fanatics, barely six months after the release of the successor of Apple’s wonder tablet, the much anticipated iPad 2, the webosphere was rife with rumors of the release of a next gen iPad, as early as in the fall of the same year. Termed as the iPad HD and iPad 3, the tablets were expected to incorporate the same super crisp Retina displays found on the iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4G. Although the rumors were laid to rest due in part to Apple’s inability to acquire Retina panels in sufficient quantities, the proposed plan is now to make them available sometime in first quarter of next year.
Apple has reportedly contacted battery manufacturers Simplo and Dynapack for thinner and lighter batteries for the iPad 3.The latest report could concur with the aforementioned details as a thinner battery could leave more room for a HD display, which tend to take up more space. Taiwan Economic News also reports that although the thinner batteries would help in reducing the overall size of the iPad 3, the cost would drive up to an increase of almost 30% for Apple. The new batteries are also supposed to be safer with better longevity.
With the upcoming iPad 3 to feature a thinner, lighter battery module that is widely believed to be priced 20-30% higher than iPad 2’s, Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp., both Apple Inc.’s contract suppliers of iPad and Macbook battery packs, will hence secure a surefire profit drive for the near future.
Institutional investors pointed out that the battery pack for iPad 3, scheduled to be massively produced in the first quarter of next year, has been redesigned to be thinner and lighter with a longer service life than iPad 2 edition’s
As per Apple’s trends, the iPad 3 most probably would be thinner and lighter than it’s predecessor, even if by a small margin. As per the increased cost is concerned, the whole brunt of it is not expected to be passed on to the consumer as Apple already has a very healthy profit margin on each unit sold.
