Apple Inc. announced a new, cheaper iPad and (PRODUCT)RED versions of its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus early Tuesday. All three products will be available to order online and in stores beginning Friday, it said.
Apple's new iPad boasts a 9.7-inch Retina display, a more powerful (A9) computer chip and a 10-hour battery life. The starting price for a 32-gigabyte model with Wi-Fi is $329, down from $399. An option with cellular service is available for $459.
The new iPad may be part of the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant's gambit to resurrect tablet sales. At 22 percent market share, Apple is still the largest player in the tablet game, according to International Data Corp. However, the tablet market has been shrinking, with shipments declining 15.6 percent in 2016 from 2015.
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus (PRODUCT)RED special edition, with a bright red matte finish, mark 10 years of Apple's partnership with (RED), a branding campaign that works to raise money and awareness about HIV and AIDS.
"The introduction of this special edition iPhone in a gorgeous red finish is our biggest (PRODUCT)RED offering to date," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in a news release. "We can't wait to get it into customers' hands."
The (RED) campaign works as follows: Brands partner to create (RED) products and pledge a percentage of sales revenue directly to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a public-private financing body that supports prevention, treatment and care of these diseases in more than 100 countries. The Global Fund spends 100 percent of revenue from (RED) products on HIV-AIDS programs.
The red iPhones are a special edition of Apple's existing iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The regular iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch screen; its lowest-priced option has 32 gigabytes of memory and costs $649. The lowest-priced red version has 128 gigabytes and costs $749.
Apple would not comment on what share of revenue it contributes to the Global Fund from its (RED) products, but said it has donated $130 million since its partnership with (RED) began 10 years ago.
Apple is the biggest corporate contributor to the Global Fund, although private-sector contributions, including those from (RED), corporate donations and nonprofits amount to only 5 percent of its revenue, said Seth Faison, head of communications for the Global Fund.
