Apple on Tuesday sent invitations to members of the press for an event next week where it is expected to introduce a smaller version of the iPad.
The event will take place Oct. 23 in San Jose, Calif. The invitation includes a teaser that says “We've got a little more to show you.†Last week, a person briefed on the company's plans said the event would include the introduction of a smaller iPad.
Previously, several people with knowledge of the project, who declined to be named discussing confidential plans, said that the smaller iPad would have a 7.85-inch screen, and would likely sell for significantly less than the latest $500 iPad with a 9.7-inch display.
A smaller iPad could sound a bit like a 180 for the company, because Steve Jobs, the company's late chief executive, previously wrote off tablets with smaller screens. In an earnings call in October 2010, Mr. Jobs called 7-inch tablets “dead on arrival,†presumably referring to Samsung's then -released Galaxy Tab and Research In Motion's PlayBook.
“One could increase the resolution of the display to make up for some of the difference,†he said during the call. “It is meaningless, unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one-quarter of the present size.â€
“The 7-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad,†Mr. Jobs added. “These are among the reasons we think the current crop of seven-inch tablets are going to be DOA, dead on arrival.â€
In the company's defense, a 7.85-inch iPad would be bigger than a 7-inch tablet, so releasing such a product wouldn't undercut what Mr. Jobs said. But the late chief executive was well known for his masterful misdirection. In the past, he dismissed the idea of even making a tablet, and said he was unconvinced that people would want iPods that played video. Apple, of course, eventually delivered both.
