Apple iPad 128GB Likely To Try Attract Attention

By Prarthito Maity email: p.maity@mobilenapps.com | Jan 30, 2013 02:22 AM EST

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Apple has already announced the highly anticipated 128GB version of the iPad. While the main aspect of the new device is its massive 128GB storage, analysts believe that this is just another strategic decision from Apple to see off the growing threat from the new Windows 8 tablets.

Apple has already confirmed that it will begin production on a new iPad that will double up the capacity of the company's older fourth-generation models, and has announced the new iPad with a massive storage space.

The new 128GB version of the popular Apple-made device comes with the highly acclaimed retina display, and will fetch $799 for the WiFi-only version and $929 for the model that connects to cellular wireless. The new models will become available to public from Feb. 5, in black or white.

However, per a Citibank analyst, Apple has kept a close watch on the upcoming Windows 8 hybrids with the release of the new pricey fourth-generation iPad 4. This means that the company is starting to get defensive knowing that it is no more the only company in the market competing to get to the zenith with the Windows 8-based devices breathing down its neck.

"At $799, this latest iPad [model is] priced above the average selling price of a laptop ($703), bringing the two squarely into the same wallet discussion," analyst Glen Yeung of Citibank said in a research note. "Given what we estimate to be a 3-quarter slide in 10" iPad unit sales, we can't help but detect a defensive element to Apple's latest iPad [model]."

While the company is playing it carefully to maintain its position in the market, it is also looking to attract some attention from both fans and critics. This is even clearer in Apple's timing of the new announcement, which is pretty interesting.

"Less than a week ago, Apple revealed lackluster holiday iPhone sales, reinforcing anxiety among investors that the company is fading from a growth company to a stodgy, if immensely profitable, corporation and that Google's Android phones can fully replace the iPhone as the go-to smartphone.," a Forbes report states.

There is also a growing a concern both within the company and outside that because of the lack of any major attention-grabbing product releases of late, with the only announcements coming in the form of older products given new features, there is a growing fear "that Apple is aging and that its fate will soon parallel the elder giants in the industry, like Microsoft and IBM."

"While Apple's announcement reminds us of their unique ability to stimulate demand with new products and their opportunity in the corporate market, we sense a degree of defensiveness in this announcement," Yeung added. "We don't view this announcement as sufficient to divert investor attention away from the risks to handset market share and margin evident in recent results."

Apple's major concern at the moment is Microsoft's new Surface Pro. The Pro is a 128GB model which is offered with a keyboard cover and will be priced at $999 and pack laptop-like performance.