Trouble For The Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPad?

There has been a lot of discussion lately about what the future holds for the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad lineup. While many people are hoping for big things, others wonder if Cupertino will really be able to make the next generation tablets any better than what is available right now.

In addition to its own focus, Apple also has to be concerned about what the competition is doing. Right now, the tablet market belongs to Cupertino and there is no reason to believe this is going to change in the near future. However, it is safe to assume that there are many companies and tablets looking to grab some market share in the years to come.

Digitimes recently published an interesting piece about an underdog in the tablet game: Nook tablets expected to see strong demand in 3Q13

You may not expect Barnes & Noble to be a major player in this market and give Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) a run for its money, but things could end up moving in this direction as 2013 wears on.

Here is more from the article:

“Barnes & Noble has reduced the price of its 7-inch 8GB Nook HD from US$199 to US$129 and the 8.9-inch Nook HD+ from US$269 to US$149 as the company has decided to quit developing tablets. The new prices are expected to affect demand for other tablet products in North America in the third quarter, according to market watchers.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook shipments dropped from about one million units in the fourth quarter of 2012 to only 700,000 units in the first quarter of 2013, and are expected to have dropped to only 500,000-600,000 units in the second quarter due to fierce competition from other tablet players.”

This is not to say that the Nook tablet is going to overtake the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad at some point in the near future. It has a lot of ground to cover if this is ever going to happen. That being said, any competition in the tablet market is good for everybody involved, especially consumers.

One thing to keep in mind is that Barnes & Noble had to drop the price of its tablet as a means of increasing demand. Along with this, the company does not have any long term plans to develop tablets.

While this could impact Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad sales during the third quarter, since Barnes & Noble is exciting the game it will not have a long-term effect.