First, best glance at my previous post.
For more than a year Apple has been expected to enter the eReader market. And yet... they haven't. Why would this be? Most likely it's because it wasn't Steve's own idea to do so. But I'm sure he's changed his mind about that by now. And here's how that would happen.
1. eReaders, as they are now, are just too limited. They're good for reading books, and blogs, and any written content that isn't particularly graphical in nature. Meanwhile, Apple has a vested interest in all the products on iTunes. Therefore, Apple will never produce a straight eReader. It'll have to be an iPod. It'll have to support video. And it'll be bigger than a Nano so it'll have to have many gigs of HD space. Anything else would be impossible. Only problem is that running video is incompatible with the kind of screen an eReader needs. But if Apple is licensing Pixel Qi's screen technology, we can expect to see an Apple Tablet-sized iPod eReader during Macworld in early Februaray (9-13) of 2010.
Major question is whether it'll be more oversized iPod touch, or more netbook / Macbook Air with a keyboard. Since design paths appeal to different segments of the market, the likelihood is that Apple will produce both. One may actually be a new version of the Macbook Air, and one very likely will be labeled with the moniker "Touch." Mac will launch both at the same time. And no other products using Pixel Qi technology will hit the market until after Macworld, a privilege that Steve Jobs will have been willing to pay tens of millions of dollars for.
Why won't it be announced before Christmas? Simple. Because so many existing products will be made obsolete by Pixel Qi's technology. All Netbook makers will actually make more money by selling off existing stock at going prices than they would if they tried to compete for future share with limited supply. And supply will be extremely limited in December. Prototype-limited.
Will Apple be the one and only company to have Pixel Qi's technology? Definitely not.
1 comment:
Well, I was wrong about the timing. http://www.netbookchoice.com/2009/11/06/asus-planning-big-line-up-for-ces-2010/
Turns out that the January CES show is probably going to be the drop-point for several Pixel Qi devices from Asus. Asus understands the need for a dual-screen device. Good for them.
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