Apple unveils iPad Air and slashes price of a new Mac

Apple is refreshing its iPad lineup and slashing the price of its Mac computers ahead of the holiday shopping season, as it faces an eroding tablet market share and growing competition from rival gadget makers.

Apple unveiled a new, thinner, lighter tablet called the “iPad Air” along with a slew of new Macs Tuesday at an event in San Francisco. The iPad Air weighs just 1 pound (0.45 kg), compared with 1.4 pounds (0.64 kg) for the previous version. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller called the tablet a “screaming fast iPad.” He said it is eight times faster than the original iPad that came out in 2010.

The iPad Air will go on sale Nov 1 and start at US$499 for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory. Apple plans to phase out its third and fourth generation iPads while the iPad 2, which launched in 2011, continues selling at US$399. A new iPad Mini, meanwhile, will be available later in November starting at US$399 for a 16-gigabyte model.

The iPad’s market share has been eroding compared with cheaper rivals running Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Research firm Gartner Inc. estimates that Android tablets will end 2013 with a 50 percent share of the worldwide market versus 49 percent for the iPad. Just two years ago, the iPad commanded a 65 percent market share compared to 30 percent for Android tablets.

Video: Apple unveils thinner, lighter iPad to beat back rivals