Apple to debut new iPads to fend off Samsung, other tablet competitors

Apple is upgrading its iPad lineup to fend off a growing list of competitors, which are introducing their own tablets at lower prices with snazzier features.
Chief executive Tim Cook will debut a high- definition iPad mini and a thinner iPad at a San Francisco event tomorrow, people with knowledge of the plans have said.
Facing two straight quarters of declining profit and a stock that's down by more than a quarter from a September 2012 record, Apple is facing a similar challenge with the iPad as it has with the iPhone, battling lower-cost rivals and proving that incremental changes to existing products are enough to draw customers. The iPad is Apple's second-best selling gadget after the iPhone and the new models will be critical as the company seeks to reignite growth.
"Tablets are a maturing market," said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in San Francisco. "It will be difficult for Apple to move the needle on new tablet sales, as the strongest growth is coming from emerging markets where customers are more price sensitive."
Apple saw its share of the tablet market contract to 32 per cent in the second quarter from 60 per cent a year earlier, according to researcher IDC. While iPad sales more than doubled every quarter since the 2010 debut, growth of the devices hasn't topped 66 per cent since mid-2012.
Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment ahead of the event. Cook has said market-share data alone isn't the best way to judge success.
"Customers continue to love their iPads," Cook said in July, citing data from analytics firm Chitika Inc. showing that that the iPad makes up 84 per cent of Web traffic from tablets.
Samsung, Asustek, Lenovo, Acer and other competitors are challenging Apple, offering devices with prices starting at less than half of the iPad mini's US$329. Amazon.com Inc. introduced a new Kindle Fire lineup last month with higher-resolution screens at prices starting from $229.
While tablet shipments doubled to 166 million globally in 2012, Counterpoint Research projects that the growth rate will slow to 28 per cent in 2014, to 301 million units.
Apple is upgrading its top-selling products ahead of the holiday shopping season. The Cupertino, California-based company introduced the iPhone 5s and 5c last month, selling more than 9 million in its opening weekend. The iPad and iPhone accounted for about 70 per cent of Apple's revenue last year.
The company will also show new Mac software and a new Mac Pro high-end desktop computer at tomorrow's event, a person with knowledge of the plans has said.
Even as tablet sales growth slows, the industry shift that's been under way since Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in 2010 shows no signs of abating. Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Dell are grappling with shrinking demand for their computer software and hardware as consumers and businesses move more day-to-day tasks to handheld devices.
"The tablet market is going to be bigger than the traditional computing market," said Horace Dediu, a market researcher who runs Asymoco.com. Customers prefer an iPad to browse the web, send e-mail and watch online videos, he said.
Schools, pharmaceutical sales forces and insurance companies are among those using iPads instead of personal computers. Nintendo and other video-game companies have also seen weaker sales as people use the tablets to play games.

Which products are to be taxed?

To be taxed:

Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category

Not taxed

Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.

Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules

On Women's Day

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The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?

Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.