Apple plans smaller iPad to compete with 'iPad killer' Nexus 7

05 July, 2012

To maintain its dominance in the tablet market, Apple is reportedly planning to debut a smaller, but a cheaper iPad by this year-end. The plans may have been devised before but the driving force behind mini-iPad is said to be Google's Nexus 7, which has been called by some analysts as 'iPad kiler'.

GOOGLE'S NEXUS 7 has turned the heat on Apple, which reportedly, is working on a smaller and cheaper version of iPad that might be in stores in a few months' time.

Dubbed by some as 'iPad killer', Nexus 7 is laced with sleek features and is available at half the price of Apple's iPad. According to Bloomberg, 'two people with knowledge of the plans' maintain that Apple is working on the new version that may debut in the holiday season. “The smaller iPad will "have a screen that's 7 inches to 8 inches diagonally, less than the current 9.7-inch version," according to Bloomberg.

Priced at $199, iPad Mini's small screen would let Apple keep the costs in check. Besides analysts have said that smaller iPad would give competitors a tough time. One analyst calls it 'nightmare' for competitors like Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire.

Though rumours have been doing the rounds for quite sometime and Apple has never bothered to clear the air. And this time as well, it has maintained complete silence.

Couple of months back, Apple Pundit John Gruber has said that Apple had a working prototype of a 7.85 inch iPad in its labs. He had said that the prototype sports the same resolution as the original iPad and iPad 2.

Apple had reportedly even ordered Samsung screens, measuring 7.86 inches which was seen by many as the official confirmation of Apple's plans to develop smaller iPad.

Though it has been preveiously said that Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs was skeptical of smaller iPad but now it seems, Apple will go to any extent to maintain dominance in the market.