The latest iTablet rumors
Yet another Apple financial analyst and expert has looked into the crystal ball of the Apple supply chain and has come away with a vision of a 10.1-inch tablet computer ready to ship by March or April.
Yair Reiner, the Apple guru at the investment firm Oppenheimer, has revealed all in his latest note to investors that inquiries into the relevant sector of Apple’s suppliers reveal that there are advance orders in the mill that point to the production of a 10.1-inch display device (what could that be for except a tablet computer?) that tentatively place the production of the device in time for a launch sometime before the end of April 2010. At the same time, Reiner says that Apple is working hard to cut deals with book publishers that indicate that they see the iTablet as an eReader, among other things, according to an Appleinsider story.
Reiner says in his investor note that, “Our checks into Apple’s supply chain indicate the manufacturing cogs for the tablet are creating into action and should begin to hit a mass market stride in February. At this stage Apple appears to be sizing its supply chain to support production of as many as 1M units per month.” Given the need for a two-month inventory before launch, that puts delivery in March or April. The analyst also told investors that he believes the tablet could provide an additional 50 cents to 75 cents in earnings per share for AAPL stock, a fairly tidy sum.
On the hardware front, Reiner is of the strong opinion that the new iTablet will have a 10.1-inch multi-touch display using LTPS LCD technology, exactly as is used in the iPhone, just bigger. On the device app side, he says “Contacts in the U.S. tell us Apple is approaching book publishers with a very attractive proposal for distributing their content. Apple will split revenue 30/70 (Apple/publisher); give the same deal to all comers; and not request exclusivity. We believe the typical Kindle split is 50/50, rising to 30/70 if Kindle is given ebook exclusivity.”
Somehow all of this has a ring of reality to it. It both sounds like plausible information with good sources, and does not get so bogged down in detail that we only see the individual trees and lose track of the forest. A device of that size would make an ideal e-book reader, and the iTunes store could certainly use a book division. As for the size and material, the latter is tried and true while the former seems optimal for the intended uses. Maybe we finally have something solid to go on.
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