Apple's iTablet/iSlate - why the delay

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 05 January 2010 09:17

Opinion and Analysis

The latest rumours have Apple's fabled tablet device shipping two months after a supposed announcement in late January. Why might that be?

As iTWire's Alex Zaharov-Reutt pointed out earlier today, the current scuttlebutt about Apple's iTablet (or iSlate, or whatever it turns out to be called) is that it will be announced around January 26 but won't ship until the end of March.

In the past, Apple has been slated (sorry!) for delays between product announcements and delivery. Things have been relatively good recently, with most new models shipping on or very soon after the day of announcement.

The 27in iMac was an exception, although statements made by Apple officials to iTWire imply that the problem was meeting demand rather than anything else.

The last significant delay between announcement and delivery concerned the iPhone. Compliance testing, the need to involve at least one carrier, and a presumed desire to have multiple (web) apps available on delivery meant Apple couldn't play its cards as closely to its chest as it likes to.

It seems likely that similar considerations are coming into play with the iTablet.

Given that it is apparently neither a general-purpose computer (a la Windows-based tablet PCs) nor a dedicated ebook reader but rather a true multimedia device, Apple needs to get multiple partners involved.

We've already heard remarks about an Apple tablet from newspaper and magazine publishers that suggest they have been briefed about a specific product as opposed to merely providing speculation about a hypothetical device.

Then there are book publishers, as well as TV networks and movie studios - though you'd imagine the latter category would already be covered by existing iTunes Store agreements, though there have been suggestions that Apple is working on a new subscription model for TV-originated content.

Who else is involved, what about the price, and what's Apple's 'secret sauce' that will make the iSlate/iTablet more palatable? Please read on for the answers.