General Information about the iPad

The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, apps and web content. Its size and weight fall between those of contemporary smartphones and laptop computers. The iPad runs on iOS, the same operating system used on Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone, and can run its own applications as well as iPhone applications. Without modification, the iPad will only run programs approved by Apple and distributed via the Apple App Store (with the exception of programs that run inside the iPad's web browser). Like iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad is controlled by a multitouch displaya departure

from most previous tablet computers, which used a pressure-triggered stylusas well as a virtual onscreen keyboard in lieu of a physical keyboard. History: Apple released the first iPad in April 2010, selling 300,000 units on the first day and selling [23] [7][8][9] 3 million in 80 days. During 2010, Apple sold 14.8 million iPads worldwide, representing 75% [24] of tablet PC sales at the end of 2010. By the release of the iPad 2 in March 2011, more than 15 [25] million iPads had been sold selling more than all other tablet PCs combined since the iPad's [26] release. In 2011, it took approximately 73% of the tablet computing market share in the United [27] States. During the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple sold 15.4 million iPads. Before launch Apple's first tablet computer was the Newton MessagePad 100, introduced in 1993, which led to the creation of the ARM6 processor core with Acorn Computers. Apple also developed a prototype PowerBook Duo-based tablet, the PenLite, but decided not to sell it in order to avoid hurting [31] MessagePad sales. Apple released several more Newton-based PDAs; the final one, the MessagePad 2100, was discontinued in 1998. Apple re-entered the mobile-computing markets in 2007 with the iPhone. Smaller than the iPad but featuring a camera and mobile phone, it pioneered the multitouch finger-sensitive touchscreen interface of Apple's iOS mobile operating system. By late 2009, the iPad's release had been rumored for several years. Such speculation mostly talked about "Apple's tablet"; specific names included [32] iTablet and iSlate. The actual name is reportedly a homage to the Star Trek PADD, a fictional [33] device very similar in appearance to the iPad. The iPad was announced on January 27, 2010, by Steve Jobs at an Apple press conference at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San [34][35] Francisco. Jobs later said that Apple began developing the iPad before the iPhone, but temporarily [39] shelved the effort upon realizing that its ideas would work just as well in a mobile phone. The iPad's internal codename was K48, which was revealed in the court case surrounding leaking of iPad [40] information before launch.
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First generation Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPad from U.S. customers on March 12, 2010. The only major change to the device between its announcement and being available to pre-order was the change of [41] the behavior of the side switch from sound muting to that of a screen rotation lock. The Wi-Fi [3][42] version of the iPad went on sale in the United States on April 3, 2010. The Wi-Fi + 3G version
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was released on April 30. 3G service in the United States is provided by AT&T and was initially sold with two prepaid contract-free data plan options: one for unlimited data and the other for 250 MB [43][44] per month at half the price. On June 2, 2010, AT&T announced that effective June 7 the unlimited plan would be replaced for new customers with a 2 GB plan at slightly lower cost; existing [45] customers would have the option to keep the unlimited plan. The plans are activated on the iPad [46] itself and can be canceled at any time. The iPad was initially only available online at The Apple Store as well as the company's retail locations. The iPad has since been available for purchase through many retailers including Amazon, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Verizon, and AT&T. The iPad was launched in Australia, Canada, France, [5][47] Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom on May 28. Online pre-orders [4] in those countries began on May 10. Apple released the iPad in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore on July 23, [48][49][50] 2010. Israel briefly prohibited importation of the iPad because of concerns that its Wi-Fi might [51] [52] interfere with other devices. On September 17, 2010, the iPad was officially launched in China. 300,000 iPads were sold on their first day of availability. By May 3, 2010, Apple had sold a million [54] [55] iPads, this was in half the time it took Apple to sell the same number of original iPhones. During the October 18, 2010, Financial Conference Call, Steve Jobs announced that Apple had sold more [56] iPads than Macs for the Fiscal Quarter. In total, Apple sold more than 15 million first generation [25] iPads prior to the launch of the iPad 2. Second generation Main article: iPad 2 Apple's CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad 2, the second generation of the device, at a March 2, [57][58] 2011, press conference, despite being on medical leave at the time. About 33% thinner than its predecessor and 15% lighter, the iPad 2 has a better processor, a dual core Apple A5 that Apple says is twice as fast as its predecessor for CPU operations and up to nine times as fast for GPU operations. The iPad 2 includes front and back cameras that support the FaceTime video calling application, as well as a three-axis gyroscope. It retains the original's 10-hour battery life and has a similar pricing scheme. The iPad 2 has been available for purchase, depending on stock availability, since March 11, 2011, at Apple retail stores in the United States, as well as to American customers shopping online at Apple's [59] retail website. The iPad 2 was released internationally in 25 other countries on March 25, 2011, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom, but not Japan as [60] originally scheduled due to the earthquake and tsunami. Third generation Main article: iPad (3rd generation) The successor to the iPad 2 was unveiled on March 7, 2012 by Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Yerba [61][62] Buena Center for the Arts. The new iPad sports the new dual core A5X processor with quad-core [63] graphics, and a Retina Display with a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels (over 50 percent more pixels than a standard 19201080 high definition TV screen). As with previous iPads, there are two models, in this case a Wi-Fi only model and a Wi-Fi + 4G LTE model. Advantages & Disadvantages You get WiFi-only with the base model, yes. But, the Apple iPad isnt really for geeks, is it now? Most people will be happy to get Internet access at home, via occasional hot spots here and there, the coffee shops and pubs they regularly go to, etc., so I dont think Internet will be such a big problem for these people. And those who want the Internet at their fingertips all the time can just go for the more expensive models, get an unlimited data plan while theyre at it, and still spend less for more. Even though theres still a good couple of months (maybe more) before we get to hold this thing
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in our hands, the iPad makes a lot of sense for all kinds of people, particularly for those who are not computer experts. And thats Apples customer, right there. A monkey could use this thing! (Seriously, does anyone have a monkey around, and would be willing to do some tests when this thing is out? Let us know. Well write about it.) Yes, Apple also ties the 3G model to a microSIM card that limits your choices for preferred carriers. AT&T is the only carrier confirmed to support the iPad in the US. The company is also one of the few that offers that pesky, tiny SIM card, which many people still wonder why it was even necessary to invent. Battery life. Apple says ten hours. Softpedia says, Not likely and, Would you like to put your money where your mouth is? Thats how sure we are the iPad will not live up to its name, from a battery life standpoint, just like the iPhone. Your regular iPhone user - who browses the web, downloads an app or two, sends emails and listens to music on their iPhone, every day - will tell you that he or she needs to recharge that baby once every 24 hours. Apple claims up to seven hours of video playback on the iPhone 3G, and ten hours on the 3GS. These figures dont reflect our experience with any of the iPhones weve employed. Sure enough, graphics -intensive apps - like racing games, for instance - will drain the iPads lithium-polymer battery before you can even reach for the charger. Of course, this is one take on the matter, based on experience with other Apple portables. We truly hope were wrong here. On the other hand, the device really belongs in a bag, or on a tabletop, so its bound to either have a plug nearby, or always be close to its charger. I dont think we even need to go into the whole size-and-weight thing, not to mention the design. Apple has always done well from both these standpoints, and will surely continue to do so with every upgrade / new product to come. You dont need to turn the iPad around to see the sleek Apple logo on that finely finished aluminum casing to know youre looking at a product designed at One Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. But there are more aspects that can be considered drawbacks. Heres one: for the love of God, doesnt Apple see the importance of multi-tasking on such a device? Also, no camera? Not even one? We get that video conferencing was too much to ask from a 500-dollar Apple portable, not to mention the difficulties AT&T is encountering with its 3G network, but there are some things that simply need to be part of a device like the iPad. And one of those things is a camera. If a webcam was too much to ask for, then the ability to take a picture with the thing, include it in one of those fancy Keynote slideshows and email it to your loved ones really sounds like a key feature Apple missed out on. According to those whove had a go with it (following the end of Steve Jobs keynote address yesterday), the device is extremely snappy. No surprise there - its powered by Apples own chip. That should translate into many years of flawless operability, but also limitations, so weve got a good and a bad inside the 1GHz A4 silicon. Perhaps theres also some hope for that ten-hour battery life thanks to the A4. Oh, how could we forget about the screen? Is that thing gorgeous, or what? It sure makes the iPad look like the device to watch video on (in bed, drinking your morning coffee, etc.). The increased real estate clearly provides tons of benefits for any activity, including using some third-party apps like Brushes. When the iPad is out, Brushes will be there to complement that glossy 9.7-inch display, its developer has confirmed, and we bet there will be quite a few artists taking things to a whole-new level, thanks to the iPad. iPad...hmm. We think Apple could have done a little better here as well. Of course, with no better suggestions for a name, were not going to weigh in on this too much. We just thought the company had it in it to come up with something better than the obvious name iPad.

It connects to a lot of neat accessories, like the iPad Keyboard Dock, which only enhances the tablet experience, combining Multi-Touch with traditional controls - a dream come true, for many Apple fans. The accessory combines a dock for charging your iPad with a full-size keyboard. Featuring a rear 30-pin connector, it lets you connect to an electrical outlet using the USB Power Adapter, sync to your computer, and use other accessories like the Camera Connection Kit. The storage capacities are OK. 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive for $499, $599, and $699, respectively (WiFi-only models). However, 16 gigs may not be enough for regular use in the nearby future. Apps will get bigger, as developers try to take advantage of the increased number of pixels, video automatically gets bigger for the iPad as well, etc. Hopefully, this will not prove to be a drawback. So far, storage sounds good. We could go on forever about the things we believe are good with the Apple iPad, and those that are not so good. Basically, the iPad seems to combine Apples best features with many of its restrictions. But we're going to save our energy for when it ships. In the meanwhile, why dont you help us see what everyone thinks about this thing, what are the key points Apple has nailed, or failed to get right, and so on. Use the comments at will. With enough feedback from you, we'll be able to do another piece, based entirely on your comments. Reference: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-iPad-Drawbacks-Advantages-133397.shtml

Question 1 Porters 5 forces Analysis This section will evaluate the industry factors which shape the strategy of Apple. Presently Apple due to its strong position can govern the tablet market but still there are many factors which have needs to be analyzed before the iPad can become a true market leader.

Power of Suppliers: Apple has high power over consumers as they have partnered with big brands and therefore use monopolistic price policies. Their product is standard and can't be customized by others. The company is taking products from so many other companies and assembling it which has helped them to decide the prices

and high brand image is helping them to cash the price of advertising from theconsumers. The company has changed the product and launched iPad 2 from March 2,2011 but still there are lot of buyers who haven't used iPad first generation yet. (AppleAnnual Reports, 2010)

Power of Buyers: The buyers have no control over iPad and they are at the mercy of the company. The buyers want to get products as soon as possible but mostly the company says 3-4 weeks for iPad to reach the consumers. Due to strong ties with the network providers the buyers have to take the products under contract otherwise they have to pay huge money to get the iPad alone. The price is $499 in US but its $ 544 in Asia but the buyers cant do anything due to low power over the supplier. The products in this category is quite high and so the switching cost is also quite high.(Shin, 2010) Figure 5. iPad 5 forces Model (Kotler, 2010; Apple Annual Reports, 2010;Shin, 2011)

Threat of New Entrants: The Company has maintained a good brand image and its difficult to imitate their strategy due to high financial demand. Apple is deciding the price of the product and consumers are ready to pay & place preorders by online which shows that Apple has high bargaining power. They are also earning good profit and utilizing China for assembling the iPad. The switching cost is high and the company is spending nearly 3% of the budget on R &D which is around $464 compared to their rival $1.9 billion still Nokia is taking time to launch their products. The initial investment is quite high and building the infrastructure is not everyonescup of tea, apart from R &D division they also need stores worldwide which is time consuming and require lot of money. (Apple Annual Reports, 2010; Pringle, 2010)

Threat of Substitutes: The threat is moderate but according to the Garter reports the Tablet market will significantly affect the sale of laptop and PC (10.5 % only) and the tablets is expected growth of 100% amounting the figure to reach 54 million in 2011alone. Apple had 80% market share last year and it is expected that LG, Motorola, RIM, HP etc. will affect the sales of Apple sales. The company has stopped

the production of iPad and now iPad 2 is in place. But time will tell who will be the leader. (Garter, 2011)

Competitive Rivalry: The rivalry is quite high in the Tablet industry and IT giants like Google, LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer and other local brands are entering the market to have their share of consumer markets. Although the growth of Apple is 61% and it is expected that they will be the dominant player but the competition is still quite high especially due to high inflation in the countries and the products are quite expensive for normal users. Another challenge is the compulsion to use only Apple apps from Apple stores in a consumer world where everyone is getting access to freeware or low price preference due to software piracy. (Shin, 2011; Kotler, 2010) Reference http://www.scribd.com/doc/56127414/iPad-Strategy Question 2 What makes the iPad a disruptive technology? In contrast, most computers are built to create as well as consume content; but common people consume content ten times more often than creating content. Apple will utterly displace laptops and other computers in the home for many and substitute for between 50-80% of the usage of the computer for those who have both devices. Definitely, the UI for accessing a website through the touch is an order of magnitude enhancement via a mouse/browser. The speed of the device is very high , the audio is excellent and the notion of storing a favourite website through an icon on the homepage makes traditional web navigation feel archaic. Furthermore, the form of the device is much more amenable to enjoy in any position other than sitting at the table, which is a highly unnatural activity at home or when traveling.Now people can seat and relax on sofa and leisure chairs, which is both comfortable and improves posture and back/shoulder issues. By complementing the Internet consumption with the suitable consumption of other media such as books, video, music, etc., Apple has ensured that no other company can deploy a truly comparable consumption machine. Who are likely to be the winners and losers if the iPad becomes a hit?why?

Ipad is aimed at making life easier and more convenient for people who use their computer for a handful of regular activities; web browsing, emailing, tweeting, messaging, listening to music, watching videos, etc. It appears to do all of these things very well in a comfy portable package.As you know that Steve Jobs could have hit on the perfect content consumption device for the mass market. So if the iPad does take off in the same way that the iPod and iPhone did, who will be the winners and losers? Other Tablet OEMs, not Microsoft-The early reviews werent as spectacular as Im sure Apple was hoping for. In fact, I think Apple has created the greatest wait and see device weve probably ever seen. Other Tablet OEMs have a chance to get some skin in the game. Apple set the price for a Tablet at $500 and that will become a standard. But Apple left room for others when it comes to features. Sure, Apple is looking at this as a game changing

device, but those who want little things like an SD slot or an on-board camera will be thinking about other options whether Apple wants them to or not. Microsoft and its Tablet Partners. Microsoft and its partners have an opportunity here if they play it correctly. So far they havent. Microsoft fell for the hype and rushed out a quick and insufficient Tablet look-see during the CES 2010 keynote. In retrospect, Microsoft got snookered and would have been better off making a bigger splash after Apple unveiled its offering. But then having the device ready to go will be a big key and Microsofts partner approach is going to be the key of keys here. It has served well and not so well in the past. Many of those partners are looking at other alternatives. Microsoft has a window opening but they need to change how they play the game in order to take advantage of the view it offers.

Amazon. A color screen on the next Kindle will go a long way, should Amazon deliver. As would adding a browser solution to the Kindle, beyond the experimental version. Amazon still has its Kindle App on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. (In fact they have two, as Amazon also owns Stanza.) Unless Apple pulls that Amazon is still in the game. Again, I think Amazon is breathing a sigh of relief today. NVidia. The Tegra platform has a chance to make some inroads if NVidia plays it right and gets some OEMs to go along. Early impressions of the Tegra platform seem positive. But devices need to get to market. Google. Google is a big winner here in my opinion. Android has been gaining momentum as a platform on a number of mobile devices. If any of those promised Android Tablets can take off and avoid the mistake that Archos is making by not doing the full Android experience, Google could compete on the Tablet front like they are doing on the phone front. Rumors of replacing Googles search with Microsofts Bing on the iPad seem premature at the moment but it is still early on that front. Pixel Qi. Theres no question that Pixel Qi screens captured a lot of attention at CES2010. As stated earlier, Apple sees the iPad as an eBook reader and is going heavy into that market with a device that has more to offer. Apples device is promising 10 hours of battery life and the jury is out there, but the Pixel Qis screen solution looks to give devices more battery life to play with. Inkers. You could make the case that the hopes for Digital Inking as a method of input have been dealt a blow. There is still an opportunity for a good Digital Inking solution. Scobles kid says students wont like this because they cant take notes. Quite a few medical professionals have weighed in on this as well. Notebook and Netbook OEMs. Some have boldly said that the iPad means the death of the computer as we know it. Certainly that was a part of the expectation set. It may be the very beginning of a sea change, but for at least the next few years, well still see Notebooks and Netbooks dominate airports and business meetings. Apple hedged its bets with the iPad by offering a keyboard dock, telling me that they arent convinced that a touch only solution is going to gain the industry changing momentum their vision aims for. But, then sometimes big change comes in incremental steps. The hope of Tablet lovers everywhere was that Apple would finally be able to make consumers see the wisdom of using these devices over more traditional alternatives.

Question 3 Describe the effects that the iPad is likely to have on the business models of Apple, content creators, and distributors. Apples iPad exploded on April 3, 2010 with sales of 300,000 units in the first day and close to 4.19 million devices in the first three months. By the end of 2010, the iPad had defined the tablet market and captured approximately 95% share of the nascent category, with 15 million units sold. But the devices potential has exceeded the consumer market to reach into the corporate environment. Pro enterprise enhancements, such as mobility device management (MDM) and over-the-air (OTA) deployments of in-house applications have furthered the image of the iPad as a business tool. Bill talked about 4 distinguishing traits that warrant high price/revenue multiples and thus higher valuations. Lets look at Apples Business Model from Bills lens. 1. Sustainable Competitive Advantage Apple has created a sustainable competitive advantage for itself with iTunes platform. Earlier iTunes allowed users to download songs for iPod. Now, iPad is also integrated with iTunes for apps download. The iTunes platform and its tight integration with Apple products is so powerful that Walmart has decided to exit the digital music selling business by 29 August 2011. iPad, which didnt even existed 5 years ago, now contribute nearly 70% of Apples revenues. 2. The presence of Network Effects In economics and business, a network effect is the effect that one user of a good or service has on the value of that product to other people. Tom Eisenmann (Professor at Harvard Business School who studies lean startups, entrepreneurship, platforms, and network effects), there are two types of network effects: A same-side effect, in which increasing the number of users on one side of the network makes it either more or less valuable to users on the same side; and a cross-side effect, in which increasing the number of users on one side of the network makes it either more or less valuable to the users on the other side. With its products, Apple is able to build both the same-side and the cross-side Network effects. On one side, iPad users. On the other side, Apple has app developers. As per Apple financial disclosures, Apple has sold nearly 29 Million iPads during last 5 quarters. These numbers are big enough to attract the developer community to develop apps for the users. More the users buy Apple products, more the developers will develop apps. More the apps are there in Apple App store, more the users will buy. 3. Financial Services - the financial service industry is estimated to account for 3540% of iPad deployment by enterprises as of September 2011. Over a million financial advisers operating worldwide relied primarily on paper in their overall delivery processes. The advent of the iPad has revolutionized the way financial analysts interact with their customers by collating multiple sources of information (such as past portfolio performance reports, asset allocation charts, and other supporting documentation) on to a single platform. The device also allows autosynchronization across other smartphone/digital devices and aids in regulatory compliance. The world of finance has also witnessed the emergence of specialized applications serving as tools for financial planning, portfolio analysis, order management, alerting, client reporting, debt management, task management, and scheduling, etc. 4. Business and Professional Services is estimated to contribute 47% of iPad deployment by enterprises as of September 2011. Corporations providing professional services business intelligence, IT outsourcing services, and even legal advisory services have identified large- scale deployment of iPad as an effective way to communicate with customers. The device has proved to serve as an ideal platform to enhance interaction with clients through intelligent use of rich multimedia content.

As Apple unveiled its long-rumored tablet device, the iPad, at a press event today in San Francisco, mobile industry insiders in Seattle, Boston, and elsewhere were watching closely. Which is exactly what you would expect, given Apples track record of disrupting industry after industry with previous iProducts like the iPod, iTunes, and the iPhone. In conclusion, long before Steve Jobs lifted the cloak of secrecy, the iPad was both feared and reveredfeared because of the possibility that it will once again upend the way people consume digital content such as music, movies, TV shows, games, books, newspapers, and magazines, and revered because it could provide creators and distributors in each of these media with new ways to reach customers.

Additional Information Speed: The original iPad was fast, but its speed seems snail-like compared to iPad 2. With the A5 chip, iPad makes watching video, playing games, and accomplishing any task lightning quick. Dont believe the hype? Head to an Apple Store or ask a friend who has iPad 2 to let you take it for a spin and discover the speed youre missing if you dont have iPad 2. Weight Loss: The original iPad was thin and light. iPad 2 makes the first iPad seem like a hulking, bloated, beast. The heaviest iPad 2, the WiFi+3G model weighs 1.34 lbs. (607g) and is .34 in. (8.8 mm) thick. iPad 2 represents a 33% decrease in size over its predecessor, which weighed 1.6 lbs. (730g) and was .5 in. (13 mm) thick. Smart Covers: If size, or lack of it, matters to you, Smart Covers go hand in hand with iPad 2s smaller size. iPad 2 with a Smart Cover doesnt add bulk to its thin, light design. Moreover, lifting the Smart Cover wakes your iPad instantly and closing it puts your iPad to sleep. The Smart Cover may be the most tremendous addition to the iPad announced by Apple on March 2. 65,000 apps: Theres not much to say here. Androids Honeycomb tablet OS has less than 20 apps designed for it. Owners of iPad 2 have access to 65,000. Multi- Touch User Experience Right in Your Hand - Interact Interact with charts, graphs and tables in real time users can tap, pinch or swipe the screen, with every movement providing a new view of the data instantly. Powerful Analysis On the Run. Users can access important information where and when they need it whether running a predictive analytic application or looking at the latest update to a key metrics dashboard so questions can be asked and answered on the run. Annotations & Presenting Tools Emphasize important insights on the dashboard or label your insights and finalize by sending your analysis via-email using our 1-click sharing button. Knowledge-Sharing In a Mobile Environment. Unlike some competing applications, Spotfire files dont require special preparation to be published on the web. Now, all files viewable in Spotfire Web Player are iPad compatible as well. Decision Making doesnt have to happen in the office Access your recently reviewed analysis or add a dashboard to your favorites! With Spotfire for the iPad, not only can you

open reports and dashboards, but you get complete analytical capabilities so that you can answer key questions before you make your final decision. Export and Send reports from the iPad Reached an interesting insight? Export your reports and visualizations to images or PDF files with one-touch and send it to your customers/colleagues. You can even send them the access link to the analysis so they can interact with it themselves!

Reference http://www.subhub.com/articles/apple-ipad-the-potential-winners-and-losers http://www.slideshare.net/aku5299/is-ipad-a-disruptive-technology http://www.theipadfan.com/5-reasons-buy-ipad-2/ http://spotfire.tibco.com/ipad.aspx