On Monday, Steve Jobs sounded very definite about there being no smaller iPad on the horizon, but it he just trying to throw us off the track? He’s done it before.
During Monday’s conference call about Apple’s sales report, CEO Steve Jobs adamantly tossed cold water on the rumors that the company is planning a 7” version of the popular iPad. “Apple has done extensive user testing and we really understand this stuff. There are clear limits on how close you can place things on a touchscreen, which is why we think 10 inch is the minimum screen size to create great tablet apps.” He went on, “One naturally thinks that a 7-inch screen would offer 70 percent of the benefits of a 10-inch screen…this is far from the truth. Seven-inch screens are 45 percent as large as an iPad. This size isn’t sufficient for making great tablet apps.”
Obviously, he’s trying to deflect the rumors coming out of Taiwan over the last few months, the ones saying Apple has already ordered the components for a 7” version of the iPad and is working on a product for release in 2011. So do we believe Jobs or not? Well, he does have a record of fudging the truth on matters like this. Like saying back in 2004 that there wouldn’t be a video iPod. Or pooh-poohing Apple’s entry into the cell phone business in 2003. Or saying that the company had no interest in a tablet, then filing for a patent on one in 2004. Yeah, Jobs has a history of either changing his mind a lot, or deliberately lying to throw us off the scent of new products before they come out.
In this case, he has every reason to want the buying public to believe that there’s no smaller, cheaper iPad coming anytime soon. Production has finally caught up with demand, and the iPad is becoming available at numerous major retail chains just in time for holiday shopping. That could make for a very lucrative fourth quarter, but not if large numbers of possible buyers decide to hold off until after the first of the year, hoping for new models or lower prices.
