Competition in on-device artificial intelligence (AI) devices is shifting from smartphones and PCs to tablet PCs, as Apple and Samsung launch new products amidst slow growth in the global tablet market.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 series, released this month, continues its premium strategy, while Apple introduces its lightest and smallest iPad Mini in over three years. This new seventh-generation iPad features the AI system, Apple Intelligence, making it the first tablet to integrate AI functionality. Attention is now on whether these market leaders can maintain their dominance amid growing competition from Chinese manufacturers like Huawei, Lenovo, and Xiaomi.
Apple, on Oct. 15, announced pre-orders for the iPad Mini 7 in 29 countries, excluding South Korea. The device will launch on Oct. 23, with a starting price of $499. Although the new iPad Mini retains the 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display from its predecessor, it is now the smallest and lightest model in the series.
The new iPad Mini is powered by Apple’s custom A17 Pro chip, which is used in the iPhone 15 Pro. Its CPU performance has improved by 30% compared to the previous model, making it suitable for high-performance tasks like video editing.
The integration of AI capabilities is the standout feature of the seventh-generation iPad Mini. Apple Intelligence offers functions such as AI-based auto-writing, emoji generation, and call recording and summarization. The AI assistant Siri, enhanced by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, can now answer a wide range of user inquiries.
Media reactions are filled with anticipation, suggesting this could be the first tablet capable of handling everything from content creation to completion without hassle. Wired highlighted it as a significant update following the major facelift of the iPad in 2021, noting that the rear camera features “an updated image processing algorithm with the capability to detect and scan documents from the Camera app.”
Samsung also unveiled its Galaxy Tab S10 earlier this month, emphasizing the synergy between the included S Pen and AI features. For instance, users can search for images and videos by drawing circles on any screen using the Circle to Search feature, while the Sketch to Image feature turns simple hand drawings into polished images, allowing for greater usability on a larger screen compared to smartphones.
The Note Assist feature converts audio recordings to text and can translate and summarize them, and PDF Overlay Translation allows users to easily translate foreign documents without needing to copy and paste text into a separate translator. The tablet also supports multitasking.
According to market researcher Counterpoint Research, Apple and Samsung hold the top two spots in the global tablet market, with 37% and 23% market shares, respectively, in the second quarter of this year. Despite strong competition, Huawei ranks third with a 20% share, primarily from sales in China, followed by Lenovo at 7% and Xiaomi at 6%.
