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Analyst: Timing of the Apple tablet is irrelevant

Apple's long rumored tablet may be delayed until the second half of 2010, but financial analysts aren't concerned.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
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Jim Dalrymple
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A new report from Digitimes on Thursday says Apple's anticipated tablet will not be released in the first part of 2010 as originally thought, but rather in the second half of the year. One industry analyst said the timing of the release is irrelevant to Wall Street.

According to Digitimes, Apple will delay the release of the long rumored tablet because it has decided to change some of its components. Citing unnamed sources, the report says Apple will launch a model using a 9.7-inch OLED from LG.

Financial analysts don't seem to be concerned about the report and are not worried if it doesn't come in the first part of 2010, as it was first rumored to be delivered.

"At this point we cannot confirm or deny the validity of this report, but believe the exact timing is irrelevant given Street models do not currently reflect the tablet, expectations for actual units in 2010 are low, and investors focus is more on whether the tablet is real and less on timing," said Piper Jaffray senior research analyst, Gene Munster, in a note to clients on Thursday.

The price of the tablet quoted by the Digitimes sources does not fit with Munster's expectations either. Digitimes says it expects two models, with one priced at $2,000 and the other priced between $800 and $1,000.

Munster maintains that Apple will price the tablet between the current $199 iPod Touch and the $999 MacBook. Munster said he expects pricing to be in the $500 to $700 price range.

If the tablet was released in September 2010 and costs $600, Munster estimated Apple would sell 650,000 of the units before the end of the year.

Apple's supposed tablet has been one of the most talked about devices that nobody has seen. The company has reportedly spoken with media companies from around the world about having their products available for the device when its released, but Apple has yet to confirm or deny the tablet's existence.