Apple, Microsoft vie to control market in debut of latest gadgets

A new round in the battle between US-based technology companies Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp has begun with the debuts of Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 operating system and Surface tablet PC and Apple Inc's iPad mini and new Mac notebook.

On Tuesday in the United States, Apple introduced the latest addition to its line of tablet computers - the iPad mini.

The 7.9-inch device, something that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs had once expressed opposition to, is now in production. The mini comes with the same processor, battery life and resolution as the iPad 2. According to Apple, people can now place orders for the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad in the US and selected cities, including Hong Kong. No announcement has been made about when the tablets will reach the Chinese mainland. The new iPad carries a starting price of $499 and the mini has a starting price of $329. Apple said both will ship on Nov 2.

Estimates of the iPad mini's sales prospects vary, a result in part of the price range that the various versions of the device fall into. The iPad mini is only a little bit more expensive than Apple's 4-inch iPod touch, which comes with the company's high-resolution Retina display and sells for $299. The iPad 2 starts at $399.

Microsoft, for its part, gave a preview of its latest operating system in Shanghai on Tuesday.

After 2009, the year Windows 7 was released, Apple's market capitalization surpassed Microsoft's when it released its mobile Internet operating system, iOS and devices such as the iPad and iPhone. That rise in the ranks made Apple the technology company with the highest global market value.

Last year, Apple held more than 80 percent of the global tablet PC market, according to US-based IT research company International Data Corp.

In China, its market share is lower - reaching only 69 percent in the second quarter of the year. But it is still much larger than other companies in the same industry in China, the research company said.

The strong sales of mobile Internet products such as Apple's iOS operating system and Google Inc's Android system have caused Microsoft's share of the market for operating systems to decrease from 70 percent four years ago to only about 30 percent this year, said US-based research company Forrester Research Inc.

To combat the trend, Microsoft has tried to make its operating system more attractive by adding mobile Internet features and touch screens to its phones and tablet PCs.

"The future is one where no single OS or vendor is dominant," said Frank Gillett, Forrester Research vice-president, in a report released earlier this month.

"Microsoft is extremely late to expand into the mobile market and has lost its dominant position. Now it's one of three contenders. So Windows survives, but it is no longer the king of the expanded personal device hill, which now includes PCs, tablets and smartphones."

China market

Tim Cook, Apple CEO, began to pay more attention to the Chinese market after he took over the reins of the company from Jobs.

Apple now has eight stores in the country, operating them in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and plans to open more soon.

But when the company announced on Tuesday its plans to produce the iPad mini, Apple stores in China were still selling old versions of the iPhone and iPad. Huge pictures of the iPhone 4S are still hanging up in Apple stores in China and sales employees continue to peddle the devices to Chinese customers.

Microsoft now appears to be moving faster than Apple in the Chinese market. Microsoft plans to introduce the Surface tablet PC in China on Friday, and opened an online store that allowed customers in China to start placing orders for the device on Oct 19.

Dealers at the biggest electronics market in Beijing, Zhongguancun, predicted the new products will be available in the gray market - in which goods are traded through legal but unofficial channels - a week or two after their Hong Kong debut.

"It's too soon to estimate the price of the iPad mini or the new Macbook," said Chen Chaoyang, a dealer at Hailong Electronics Market in Zhongguancun.

"We can only set those prices when we actually have the products. But they aren't even available now in the United States."

Wu Xiangpeng, another dealer in Zhongguancun, expressed similar sentiments.

"Normally the prices of the latest products in our market are 50 percent higher than the prices listed on Apple's official website," Wu said.

"They will only come down when the products are officially released in the Chinese mainland market. And nobody knows when that will happen."

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Pan Jiayuan in Beijing contributed to this story.