iTablet – $800 LED or $2000 OLED?
This week’s rumors about the Apple iTablet increasingly center around the touchscreen technology, with the options being LED or OLED, and with the tablet price up in the air between the two.
The basis for the latest rumors is the report from DigiTimes that Apple is changing their design to use OLED displays instead of LED displays. That represents a big change, especially price-wise, since the cost of OLEDs is so mach higher than those of LEDs. The change also effects the timing of the introduction of the iTablet, which reportedly has been put off until the latter half of 2010, according to a ZDNET story. These rumors are causing much consternation in the rumor mill.
Some reports are saying that the price increase due to the touchscreen material change, and the concomitant price increase and delay, make the iTablet too expensive and therefore a non-starter. Other industry analysts feel that the higher price fits in well with the rest of the Apple lineup. Some observers are on the fence, saying that it is likely that Apple will produce both versions, one at a “low” price of around $800 and the other at a “high” price of over $2000, whatever those relative terms mean in a market which does not yet even exist.
It is difficult to lend credence those who say “There will be no tablet.” An entire projected marketplace has grown up around the mythical Apple tablet, with entries on the way from such heavyweights as Microsoft, Samsung, and several others. The tablet computer idea has caught the fancy of industry pundits and the public alike. It may be, of course, that Apple could get the ball rolling and then change their mind, leaving the entire marketplace to others. But that is unlikely.
An $800 LED Apple tablet would likely sell on the Apple reputation and price alone. Given Apple’s success with holding prices high on quality goods, there would almost certainly be a market for even a $2,000 iTablet among the true Apple cognoscenti. For all of these reasons, it seems likely that there will be tablets from Apple, and that two different price-points will be involved, one on the low end and one on the high end. Now, if we could just nail down those pesky details…
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November 22nd, 2009
I don’t think apple will see both version at the same time. I mean whats the advantage of OLED over LED, so much, that ppl will go for the higher price? Its more likely that they’ll release the LED version and then upgrade that version over time with OLED, like with iphone 3g to iphone 3gs