The hotly anticipated Apple Tablet -- or the Apple Newton II -- will feature a wireless chip made by Qualcomm. This discrete little fact would confirm that Apple has chosen Verizon (VZ Quote) as its telco partner, says Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar.
If true, it validates what TheStreet first reported in July -- that Apple and Verizon are working together to sell the new Tablet.
"This makes sense for Apple," says Nielsen Wireless analyst Roger Entner. "It behooves them to build a relationship with a company they haven't worked with yet," Enter said referring to Verizon.
Having a telco partner means the price of the Verizon Tablet will be less than a Tablet purchased directly from Apple. Analysts estimate that Verizon will subsidize about $200 of the Tablet's price and require a two-year data service plan of around $60 a month. Apple is expected to sell the Tablet for around $800 without a subsidy.
Apple is expected to unveil the Tablet next week and make it available for sale in March, though the sale date might be delayed until June due to component supply shortages, Kaufman analyst Shaw Wu indicated in a note Tuesday.
The Tablet will also include a docking station, according to Northeast Securities' Kumar. This could be a crucial feature for consumers who harbor an ongoing love affair with keyboards. For those unsatisfied with touchscreen typing, a dock would connect
For Qualcomm, this will be the third high-profile design win in a new crop of mobile devices. Google's (GOOG Quote) Android Nexus One is powered by Qualcomm's SnapDragon processor, the biggest win yet for that up-and-coming chip.
And earlier this month, as TheStreet exclusively reported, Apple chose Qualcomm's wireless chip for a new version of the iPhone that's headed to Verizon this summer. It hasn't all been homeruns for Qualcomm however. Some analysts say the chip shop failed to deliver an all-in-one world phone chip that would have enabled
It hasn't all been homeruns for Qualcomm however. Some analysts say the chip shop failed to deliver an all-in-one world phone chip that would have enabled Apple to build one iPhone for all carriers.
Qualcomm also didn't win the processor slot for the Apple Tablet. Instead, that victory went to Apple's own P.A. Semi, as Kumar first told TheStreet. The snub was more painful for Intel (INTC Quote), which had hoped to get involved with the flagship Tablet device, should that category attract consumers.
And that is the wild card for the Apple Tablet: Proving there is big consumer demand be for an in-between device with no keyboard and a $2,000 price tag that includes a data contract.
Thousands of people won't blink at the price, but millions probably will.
