Apple iPad built for just £146

iSuppli has claimed that the manufacturing cost of Apple’s iPad is $229.35 (just over £146 at current exchange rates).

iSuppli notes that the iPad – set to retail in the US for $499 – costs the company over half of that amount to produce, based on what it calls a “virtual teardown” of the device, which is not yet available to consumers.

Apple’s iPad will go on sale in the US early next month, with the UK set to see the device a little later in the early spring.

The $499 iPad is Apple’s lowest-cost model, with 16 gigabytes of flash memory.

The device’s total materials are estimated to cost $219.35, with a $10 manufacturing cost added on by iSuppli’s analysts. The iPad’s 9.7-inch touchscreen display is estimated to cost of $80.

The top of the range iPad will cost around $335 to make and the mid-range iPad will cost in the region of $287, says iSuppli.

Apple is expected to sell anything between 2 million and 5 million iPads in the first year on the shelf as it battles with mainstream laptops and netbooks.

Bill Gates not a fan of the Apple iPad…

Steve Jobs’ arch-nemesis Bill Gates has criticised the new Apple iPad, claiming that laptops will still be the mainstream choice for digital touch and reading.

Gates joins the growing army of iPad critics, with many consumers disappointed at the relatively low-spec and limited connectivity available on Apple’s new tablet PC device.

This, combined with the clear fact that Apple was never going to deliver a new computer that would satisfy its fans who were hyped on the pre-release rumour and speculation, has led to a somewhat muted response to the iPad by many.

Jobs’ longtime rival, Bill Gates said of the new iPad: “You know, I’m a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard – in other words a netbook – will be the mainstream on that.

“So, it’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.’”

‘Pah iPad, don’t forget me’ says HP TouchSmart

After the success of the first touch-enabled notebook aimed at consumers, HP has honed the design with the arrival of the HP TouchSmart tm2. It’s a convertible notebook comfortable both in laptops or tablets form thanks to the swivel screen and it’s multitouch enabled for all zoom, scroll and rotating manoeuvres.

The idea behind the HP laptops machine is that it’s adaptable for all environments and includes a digital pen for writing on the screen when in tablet form for note taking purposes.

It runs a low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a discrete ATI GPU and the rest of the specs are the consumer’s choice when you get to the online store. The six-cell battery offers a reported 9 hours life, there’s a finger print reader and it’s all wrapped up in an aluminium chassis thermodynamically designed to keep the computer cool.

It’s out in the States now in all sorts of colours and starts at $949. Doubtless a UK and EU version will follow.

Apple iPad set to create third sector between laptops and smartphones

Industry experts say Apple’s long-awaited iPad tablet could reverse the fortunes of the tablet PC industry.

Microsoft introduced a failed tablet computer in 2001, but advances in touchscreens and wireless technology mean that the market could now be right for products such as the iPad, analysts said.

“Tablets have been around for a long time and tablets have failed for a long time. This is a winning product,” said analyst Van Baker of Gartner Research. “I was nervous when they first started talking about this and thought it would be nothing more than a giant iPhone but it’s hard to argue against. I can use it in the living room, the classroom, for light work and at the coffee shop,” Baked added.

Apple said its aim was to try to create a third category of product that sits between laptops and smartphones, which is the traditional interpretation of a tablet computer.