Apple iPad 2 Pricing Force Rivals To Postpone Tablet Launch

Apple's surprising decision to cut the price of the iPad by as much as 20 per cent ahead of the launch of the iPad 2 later this week as well as the decision to stick to the current price point for the iPad 2 have apparently caused tablet vendors to reassess their current strategy.

Digitimes' Monica Chen says that up to three notebook brands will postpone the launch of their tablet PC until they redesign specifications and reduce costs in order to be more competitive with the iPad 2.

Delays of up to two weeks can be expected and there are chances that some products that have been already announced, either at CES 2010, MWC or CeBIT might not even appear in the channel.

Digitimes mentions that Acer is planning to avoid the launch of the iPad 2 and may develop a new netbook / tablet PC that will allow it to counter the iPad 2.

Vendors are now finding themselves forced to compete with a cheaper iPad with less features but also with a more expensive iPad 2 that is more than a match to their products thanks to its thinner and lighter chassis as well as the added camera, the dual core GPU and CPU.

Several sources have told Digitimes that it would be a very good result if non-Apple devices manage to grab more than 20 per cent of the global tablet market.