The much anticipated launch of Apple iPad could be considered a perfect example of how one can cash in on hype and publicity. As per the information available through the media, Apple's new baby does not offer as much facilities as a laptop does. Nor is it as portable as a smartphone. And with $699 dollars in hand, you can no doubt pocket a better deal.
The gadget is supposed to give a neck to neck competition to Kindle, Amazon's electronic reader device, though it remains to be seen as to how iPad would fare as it doesn't concentrate only on e-reader.
Between each interval, Apple comes out with a new product, most often similar to the previous one with an added feature which is already featured in one of its existing products. iPod is an example, which came in different colors and versions, like Hero Honda introduces new bikes in 100cc segment.
Sometime back, Ratan Tata and Jobs dropped hints on launching Nano. But Tata came out with a small affordable car, while Apple brought out a bigger and more expensive iPod featuring a video camera.
The customers also seem to like Apple hovering around its masterpiece iPod and charming Mac computers and trying different combination to birth a new baby. Because Apple brand is so influencing that they would shell out money on without even reviewing the the product.
Sometimes Apple product crushes customer's expectation by omitting some functionalities. Just as iPhone did not have bluetooth for file sharing, the much hyped iPad wonderfully lacks a camera. It is said to be a much sophisticated and feature-rich computer, but it doesn't have even a webcam. Apple's technocrats may give you a lot of technical and strategical reasons to having these functionalities left out, though your commonsense may suggest it is not a big deal for Apple to fit a camera to iPad, at least technically.
Perhaps Apple may be more futuristic. If it ignores some features in a product, there is a possibility that they can conduct another big event in the next quarter, give a big media hike to it, and when customers die with curiosity to know about the new launch, Jobs can announce a new product probably with a name iCad - the existing iPad plus the omitted camera. How is it? A fitting strategic reason to ignore the camera now, right?
Still the company has no wish to do away with hefty price tags. Some competitors can surely help on this matter. When I got an iPod Shuffle around two years back, that was priced at Rs 4,000 plus. Some six months later, so many music players made there way to market with a price that was less than half the cost of iPod, forcing Apple to slash the iPod cost to Rs 2300.
Acer is a sure bet to provoke a price cut of iPad. The company already has laptops, netbooks and now smartphones. It can combine some of their features, add an e-reader and camera and price it at half the cost of iPad. But Acer needs to be careful not to infringe on any copyright. Because Apple is well specialized in that segment, thanks to some fierce patent fights with players like Nokia.
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