This Could Be a Huge Loss for Apple

Would you buy a new iPad if you knew that its replacement was due to be released a mere six months later? A look at the numbers shows, probably not. After all, the iPad is not a cheap piece of gadgetry, and if you were to invest in one, you would hope that it would be the top-of-the-line model, at least for a while.

As it turns out, that is what happened with the iPad 3 and the prompt release of the iPad 4. If Brazil gets its way in a pending lawsuit, then Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) could be left owing reimbursements to Brazilian iPad 3 owners.

A new iPad costs almost $900 in Brazil, compared with $499 for the same model here in the States. So when the iPad 3 was released, people jumped on it — not realizing the iPad 4 would be released a short six months later.

However, the Brazilian Institute of Politics and Law Software, which is filing the class-action lawsuit, surmised that the new, ‘improved’ iPad didn’t have enough technological innovation to warrant a new release. Instead, the institute alleges that Apple intended to make the iPad 3 obsolete almost immediately, and planned accordingly ahead of time — meaning the customers of the iPad 3 could have received the same technology as the iPad 4 when the third generation was released…