Apple's iPad tablet may be getting a cheaper version, if a new rumor is to be believed. Business Insider reports that according to a note to investors by Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White, Apple is working on a lower cost version of the tablet which could be priced in the "mid-to-high $200 range." The new version could be released sometime in early 2012. White said that Apple is still working on the iPad 3, which would be more powerful than the current iPad 2 and would be priced at the current price ranges for the normal iPad. The iPad 3 could come out in the second quarter of 2012, White claims that he received this info while talking to smartphone manufacturers in China and Taiwan.
The report didn't go into any details about the hardware specs of this "mini iPad" although White did say that the smaller price might not mean that this version of the iPad will be physically smaller than the current version.
The rumor that Apple might be working on a lower cost version of the iPad comes just a few weeks after Amazon announced the Android-based Kindle Fire tablet. The device, which is due to be released on November 15, is a seven inch tablet that Amazon is selling for $199. The tablet does lack a number of features such as a 3G connection and a camera. However, there is evidence that Amazon is selling a boatload of Kindle Fire tablets well before the device's launch date.
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