u***r
发帖数: 4825 | 1 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732382910457862087
TAIPEI—Apple Inc. AAPL +0.67% and its Asian suppliers are testing larger
screens for iPhones and tablets, officials at the company's suppliers say.
Apple is looking to test a smartphone screen that measures more than four
inches and a tablet screen slightly less than 13 inches. The WSJ's Yun-Hee
Kim and Lorraine Luk discuss the implications.
In recent months, Apple has asked for prototype smartphone screens larger
than 4 inches and has also asked for screen designs for a new tablet device
measuring slightly less than 13 inches diagonally, they said. The current
iPhone 5 has a four-inch screen, while the iPad has a 9.7-inch screen. The
iPad Mini, a stripped-down version of its tablet computer, has a 7.9-inch
screen.
The tests with suppliers seem to suggest that Apple is exploring ways to
capture diversifying customer needs when many mobile device makers offer
smartphones and tablets in various sizes. Its biggest rival in the tablet
and smartphone markets, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., 005930.SE 0.
00% has an "all things to all people" strategy, covering many different
product sizes to capture as many customers as possible. The move has allowed
Samsung to leapfrog Apple in the smartphone market even though Apple still
leads in tablets.
In the first quarter, Samsung was the leading smartphone maker with 33.1% of
the market, while Apple trailed in second place with 17.9%, according to
researcher Strategy Analytics. In tablets, Apple is still the dominant
player but its market share fell to 39.6% in the three months ended March 31
from 58.1% a year earlier, according to IDC. Samsung, which uses Google Inc
.'s GOOG +0.99% Android operating system, grabbed a tablet market share of
17.9%, up from 11.3% a year earlier.
"In the long run, we will see touch screens in all sizes as the future
vision of the technology industry is to offer the same user experience
across all screens," said IDC analyst Helen Chiang. "The key is to bring
down the cost and introduce compelling applications for large-screen devices
."
Apple's move, if adopted, fits into a broader trend of mobile device makers
offering many size options. Competitors including Samsung, Sony Corp. 6758.
TO +1.42% and Huawei Technologies Co. have launched smartphones with
displays larger than 5 inches. The category is called 'phablets' to refer to
devices that cross over between a smartphone and tablet.
Apple and its suppliers also are preparing to ramp up production of a new
iPad later this month, according to officials at component suppliers. The
new version is expected to be the same size and have the same resolution as
the existing 9.7-inch model, but with a lighter and thinner display
structure, they said. The new display structure integrates touch sensors
with a thin film instead of glass, which is used in existing iPads.
Developers perused new apps being displayed on iPads at the Apple Worldwide
Developers Conference June 10.
Suppliers have started mass producing components for the new iPhone last
month, said officials at the suppliers. One person said Apple told its
assembler, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., 2317.TW +0.26% to get ready to
ship the new iPhones in late August.
The Wall Street Journal reported in April that the refreshed iPhone that is
likely to be launched in the second half of this year will be the same size
and have the same resolution as the current iPhone 5. At the same time,
Apple has also been working with its manufacturing partners in Asia on a
less expensive iPhone that will likely use nonmetal casing, to differentiate
itself from the aluminum casing of high-end iPhone 5. The shells of both
iPhone models will come in multiple color options, officials at suppliers
said earlier.
—Ian Sherr in San Francisco, Juro Osawa in Hong Kong and Min-Jeong Lee in
Seoul contributed to this article. | t*******y
发帖数: 21396 | | l**p
发帖数: 6080 | 3 三星板子都卖ipad一半了，nb
不过现实中没见过谁用三星的板子
【在 t*******y 的大作中提到】
: iOS7大改估计和准备上大屏有关。
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