Apple Hints at a 'Product Transition' and a New Product Soon?

Apple's financial results conference call today was littered with references to future products coming from Apple. While some degree of optimism ("very excited about future") is the norm during these financial results calls, there was more discussion than usual about possible new products in today's results.

Steve Jobs first suggests in the initial press release that Apple is "busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months."

Meanwhile, in the conference call, Apple executives repeatedly referred to a "product transition" that may affect Q4 revenue numbers. Typically, "product transitions" represent existing product line revisions. In this case, the MacBook and MacBook Pro have been widely expected to be revised in the coming months with both models starting to approach the end of their lifecycles. Intel has conveniently released a new processor and chipset that could be used in the new Apple laptops.

Apple also described their formula for introducing "state of the art new products at prices their competitors can't match". They explain that these new products introduce new "technologies and features" (like the iPhone), justifying their initially higher prices. Over time, they expect to take advantage of scale and engineering to drive prices down. Apple suggested that they would follow this formula again and are "very excited" about what they have in their new product pipeline. Rumors have suggested that Apple may introduce a 12" or 13" Mac tablet later this year (September or October). Another possibility: rumors of a smaller PDA-like device that is 1.5x larger than the existing iPhone.