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| Tablets take centre stage | Tablets take centre stage |
| (7 months later) | |
| Article written by Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent | |
| In a hectic year, the tectonic plates of technology are shifting again. In the space of a few days, three giants of this industry - Apple, Microsoft and Google - are holding major product launches, and it is tablets which are centre stage. | In a hectic year, the tectonic plates of technology are shifting again. In the space of a few days, three giants of this industry - Apple, Microsoft and Google - are holding major product launches, and it is tablets which are centre stage. |
| Apple kicked things off last night with what had been billed the iPad mini event, but turned out to be a rather larger scale "refresh" of the range than expected, with updated desktop and laptop computers, and a fourth version of the full-size iPad. | Apple kicked things off last night with what had been billed the iPad mini event, but turned out to be a rather larger scale "refresh" of the range than expected, with updated desktop and laptop computers, and a fourth version of the full-size iPad. |
| One notable feature was that both the MacBook Pro and the new iMac came without a DVD/CD drive. Apple has decided that, in the days of pulling your content down from the cloud, physical media have had their day - whether you like it or not. | One notable feature was that both the MacBook Pro and the new iMac came without a DVD/CD drive. Apple has decided that, in the days of pulling your content down from the cloud, physical media have had their day - whether you like it or not. |
| There will be grumbling, but I suspect its instincts are correct. | There will be grumbling, but I suspect its instincts are correct. |
| However, it was the iPad mini which was the main course, the only product that was really new - if you count becoming smaller as a real leap forward. | However, it was the iPad mini which was the main course, the only product that was really new - if you count becoming smaller as a real leap forward. |
| "There is nothing as amazing as this!" declaimed the marketing chief Phil Schiller with typical understatement. | "There is nothing as amazing as this!" declaimed the marketing chief Phil Schiller with typical understatement. |
| That said, the iPad must count as one of the most groundbreaking innovations of recent years. Apple's Tim Cook boasted that 100 million had been sold in just two and a half years, and the tablet was now outselling not just every PC, but the entire range of any PC-maker. | That said, the iPad must count as one of the most groundbreaking innovations of recent years. Apple's Tim Cook boasted that 100 million had been sold in just two and a half years, and the tablet was now outselling not just every PC, but the entire range of any PC-maker. |
| That is some shift in consumer behaviour in a short period - and as we know other companies have rushed to imitate the iPad, though with limited impact on its market share. | That is some shift in consumer behaviour in a short period - and as we know other companies have rushed to imitate the iPad, though with limited impact on its market share. |
| The most successful rivals have been the 7in (17.8cm) Android tablets - in particular the Google Nexus and the Kindle Fire. They have combined decent performance with very keen pricing - but their biggest success has been in provoking Apple to change its mind. | The most successful rivals have been the 7in (17.8cm) Android tablets - in particular the Google Nexus and the Kindle Fire. They have combined decent performance with very keen pricing - but their biggest success has been in provoking Apple to change its mind. |
| For Steve Jobs insisted that 10in (25.4cm) was the minimum size for a tablet. He was talking about the screen size necessary to display useful apps but he may have also had in mind the juicy margins Apple was getting on the bigger device. | For Steve Jobs insisted that 10in (25.4cm) was the minimum size for a tablet. He was talking about the screen size necessary to display useful apps but he may have also had in mind the juicy margins Apple was getting on the bigger device. |
| There were big dangers for the company in pricing the iPad mini - make it too cheap and it could cannibalise the lucrative sales of its big brother, too expensive and it could flop against the competition from Google and Amazon. | There were big dangers for the company in pricing the iPad mini - make it too cheap and it could cannibalise the lucrative sales of its big brother, too expensive and it could flop against the competition from Google and Amazon. |
| Before we got to the price, Phil Schiller launched a pretty direct attack on a rival device. Placing a picture of the Google Nexus 7 alongside the iPad mini, he went through their specifications - the iPad's screen size was not so mini, 30% bigger than the Nexus, the overall experience on one was "great", on the other "not so great". | Before we got to the price, Phil Schiller launched a pretty direct attack on a rival device. Placing a picture of the Google Nexus 7 alongside the iPad mini, he went through their specifications - the iPad's screen size was not so mini, 30% bigger than the Nexus, the overall experience on one was "great", on the other "not so great". |
| Ah, but when we got to the price, it was clear you paid for that extra real estate. It starts at £269 for the 16GB version, compared to £199 for the Google Nexus, with Amazon's Kindle Fire HD even cheaper at £159. | Ah, but when we got to the price, it was clear you paid for that extra real estate. It starts at £269 for the 16GB version, compared to £199 for the Google Nexus, with Amazon's Kindle Fire HD even cheaper at £159. |
| That looks expensive - but we mustn't underestimate the sheer power of the iPad brand. Apple says 90% of all web traffic from a tablet is from an iPad right now - and those hundred million users out there surfing on trains and in cafes are a great marketing resource for the mini. I'm sure it will sell well to people who wanted but couldn't quite afford the full-size version - the big question is whether that comes at the expense of the new fourth generation iPad. | That looks expensive - but we mustn't underestimate the sheer power of the iPad brand. Apple says 90% of all web traffic from a tablet is from an iPad right now - and those hundred million users out there surfing on trains and in cafes are a great marketing resource for the mini. I'm sure it will sell well to people who wanted but couldn't quite afford the full-size version - the big question is whether that comes at the expense of the new fourth generation iPad. |
| And there's more competition about to arrive. The Surface - the new tablet from Microsoft - is on sale on Friday. More on this later, but it looks quite an impressive addition to the high-end professional end of the market. And then next Monday Google holds an Android event, with talk of a 10in Nexus. | And there's more competition about to arrive. The Surface - the new tablet from Microsoft - is on sale on Friday. More on this later, but it looks quite an impressive addition to the high-end professional end of the market. And then next Monday Google holds an Android event, with talk of a 10in Nexus. |
| Tablets, big and small, are crowding out the PC, with sales of personal computers down 8% on a year ago. In 2010 when the iPad was launched many mocked it as a plaything - but Apple, Google and even Microsoft believe the future of their industry is tablet-shaped, so getting the right offer in front of consumers is a very serious business. | Tablets, big and small, are crowding out the PC, with sales of personal computers down 8% on a year ago. In 2010 when the iPad was launched many mocked it as a plaything - but Apple, Google and even Microsoft believe the future of their industry is tablet-shaped, so getting the right offer in front of consumers is a very serious business. |