moved to cement its strong lead in a fast-growing market that’s drawing
competitors from across the mobile device and PC sectors.
At a media event in
Apple announced the iPad 2, which will feature a front-facing video
camera, slimmer design and lighter body weight. The device also comes
with a faster chip — dubbed A5 — that was designed by Apple.
But the star of the show was Jobs, Apple’s CEO, who has been on medical leave for an unspecified condition since mid-January.
“I didn’t want to miss this,” Jobs quipped in opening the event.
The new iPad will go on sale
in the U.S. and two weeks later in 26 additional countries. The company
also kept the same price points as the original iPad versions, with the
cheapest model starting at
Apple also announced a new version of its mobile
operating system, called iOS 4.3, that will add new features to the
device. The company is also selling a new magnetic cover for
The first iPad, which went on sale last April,
racked up sales of nearly 15 million units in the first nine months,
amounting to about
The tablet market is expected to see a slew of new entrants this year.
Other new entrants will include the BlackBerry Playbook from
Also,
will launch the TouchPad using the webOS operating system developed by
Palm later this year. HP, which acquired handheld maker Palm last year,
is using the mobile OS to build out a line of tablets and smart phones.
At the event, Jobs downplayed the threat posed by
competitors, noting that none have been able to match the price and
performance of the original iPad.
“Most of these tablets are not even catching up to our first iPad,” he said.
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