Apple Inc introduced a faster, slimmer iPad Air 2 on Thursday, tacking on modest improvements such as a fingerprint sensor to its mainstay tablet in time for what is expected to be a hotly contested holiday season for mobile devices.
Pre-orders start on Friday for the larger iPad Air 2, priced at $499 and up, with shipping beginning next week. The smaller iPad mini 3 will be about $100 cheaper.
Marketing Chief Phil Schiller, calling the larger tablet the world’s slimmest, described several new features such as an anti-reflective screen and confirmed the inclusion of the ‘Touch ID’ sensor, already available on the latest iPhones.
Apple may struggle, however, to arouse the same passion for tablets as in past years, among consumers faced with an abundance of hand-held, touch-screen devices.
Tablet sales are set to rise only 11 per cent this year, according to tech research firm Gartner, compared to 55 per cent last year, even as smartphone sales continue to soar and personal computer sales are waning.
Tablet sales for Apple, which defined the category with the iPad just four years ago, have fallen for two straight quarters. Investors remain focused on the iPhone, Apple's main revenue generator, but a prolonged downturn in iPad sales would threaten about 15 per cent of the company's revenue.
iPad Air 2 Rs 32000
The new iPads will go up against recently introduced tablets from Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc in coming months. Shares of Apple edged down 0.6 per cent to $96.95 at mid-afternoon.
Apple also said it will launch its new electronic payments service on Monday, after the iPhone maker signed up another 500 banks to support a feature that competes with eBay Inc’s PayPal and other online systems.
Chief Executive Tim Cook said developers were beginning to design apps for its upcoming Watch.
Apple last month introduced the Watch, its first new device since the iPad in 2010.
The company’s entry into the rapidly expanding wearable computing arena will be available only from 2015, but Mr. Cook said software development kits for the device would be available from November.
Also in Thursday’s line-up was a new iMac with a ‘retina’ or high-end display.
Gemalto shares tumble after Apple unveils SIM card
Shares of Franco-Dutch technology firm Gemalto tumbled 10 per cent after Apple unveiled a new SIM card for its latest iPads, sparking worries over the future of Gemalto’s own smart chips for mobile phones.
Apple said this week its new iPad Air 2 would let subscribers switch wireless carriers much more easily by swiping an icon across the screen — thanks to a neutral Apple SIM card installed in the device.
“This is a big blow to Gemalto’s technology,” a Luxemburg-based trader said. Gemalto, a major provider of chip cards and payment terminals, last year drew around 400 million euro ($513 million) of revenue from handling payments for third parties. By working directly with Visa and MasterCard to handle mobile payments, Apple may squeeze Gemalto out of revenue from installing chips and managing payments in what is seen a fast-growing market for mobile transactions, analysts said.
