Boston, MA 10/22/2013 (wallstreetpr) – It is that time of year when staunch i-Devices enthusiast wait eagerly for Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) new product announcement. And Apple has once again done what it does best. The theme, or rather three-pronged theme for this year’s launch seems to be Faster, Thinner and Lighter. The company has unveiled the fifth generation of the now legendary iPad range of tablet. And in tune with the theme, it has been aptly named as iPad Air.
The device is scheduled to go on sale in multiple countries from 1st November 2013. The main features which company trackers believe will make this product another hit are its light weight. iPad Air weighs just a pound. This is much lower than earlier versions which weighed close to 1.4 pounds. Another major reduction has taken place in thickness, or rather thinness of these devices. The current generation is more than 20% thinner than previous one. Apple has deliberately prices it at $499 for a 16GB and $629 for a 16GB one. The reason for this is that company has also revised its pricing for upgraded iPad Mini range of devices. These Mini iPads would cost around $399 with older versions still available at a hundred dollars less.
But the surprise came on the software end. Apple announced that the latest versions of its operating systems for Mac, namely OS X Mavericks would be now available for free download. And this has surprised many Apple enthusiasts. But street hasn’t been much surprised by company’s this move as operating systems had never been a major contributor to Apple’s revenue. Rather a section of the street believes that this move is aimed directly at Microsoft which earns a major chunk of its topline from its popular Windows operating Systems sales. The shares of company haven’t reacted much and were trading flat at the time of announcement.
