The magical Apple tablet created by Saint Steven Jobs and his dedicated team of silicon alchemists has apparently been shown to high-level executives at Electronic Arts.
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reports that Club Cupertino has been “working with” EA to show off the device’s gaming capabilities.
“In developing the device, Apple focused on the role the gadget could play in homes and in classrooms, say people familiar with the situation,” explained Yukari Iwatani Kane and Ethan Smith of the WSJ.
“The company envisions that the tablet can be shared by multiple family members, [for example], to read news and check email in homes.”
However, Kane and Smith cautioned that Apple faced several major obstacles in its quest for worldwide tablet domination, including the device’s steep $1,000 price tag.
“Apple must convince consumers the product is worth buying in addition to an iPhone and a laptop computer. Apple [also] faces competition from cheaper netbooks and other devices such as Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle e-book reader.”
Henry Lu, senior vice president of Taiwanese-based Micro-Star International, opined that the tablet’s success was contingent “on how [the] product can fit into the user’s daily life…and whether [it] has enough content to make it important enough to use it.”
Nevertheless, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter noted that Club Cupertino maintains a core group of “faithful” adherents that refuse to be dissuaded by the company’s inflated prices – which is often referred to as the infamous “Apple tax.”
“Apple will always have the Apple faithful, who are reminiscent of the Sony faithful in the 70s and 80s who bought only Sony TV and stereo components,” Pachter told TG Daily in response to a previous query.
“These people would buy an Apple refrigerator, if one was offered, on the basis that it was less complicated to chill food.”
EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich expressed similar sentiments.
“Consumers will pay a premium for just about any item, as long as the benefits outweigh the costs,” Divnich told TG Daily in response to an earlier question about a future Apple game console.
“The Apple tax is just a clever name for the premium Apple can charge for its products because owning an Apple product has some social and cultural benefits.”
