Three new iPads could be on their way next year, including a 10.5″ iPad Pro, according to a new report.Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has outlined his expectations in a new research report, predicting that the three new iPads will range from 9.7″ to 12.9″, MacRumors has reported.
Apple currently ranges the iPad Pro in 9.7″ and 12.9″ models, having introduced the 9.7″ model earlier this year, which followed release of the 12.9″ model towards the end of last year.
According to Kuo, Apple is looking to next year introduce the 10.5″ iPad Pro, along with a 12.9″ iPad Pro 2 and a “low-cost” 9.7″ iPad, MacRumors reported.
Looking further ahead, Kuo predicts Apple could introduce a “revolutionary” model in 2018, according to the report, adopting a flexible AMOLED display.
A recent Strategy Analytics report found that tablet shipments fell 8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, while average selling prices climbed 9 per cent, with pro slates, including the iPad Pro, being purchased more than ever before.
“In the same way that Windows tablets gained market share with a wide range of premium-to-low-tier 2-in-1 tablets, Apple is riding consumer and enterprise demand for 2-in-1s with multiple price tiers of buy-in to its vision of what a converged computing device can achieve,” Peter King, Strategy service director, tablet & touchscreen strategies service, had commented.
Strategy found that Apple shipped 10 million iPads in the quarter (down 9 per cent year-on-year and 3 per cent sequentially), capturing a 21 per cent share of the tablet market, while the first full quarter of iPad Pro 9.7″ sales helped drive average selling prices to US$490, contributing to Apple’s best quarter in two years.
