"Let's be honest," said Baker. "What Apple's move today points to is the fact that hardware is not all that important. The biggest differentiator between Apple and [other tablet makers] is iOS versus the others, its App Store versus everyone else. If Apple can continue to build the better experience, its success isn't hardware dependent."

While there may have been a lack of drama about the iPad 2 -- the name bloggers had stuck on the expected upgrade months ago, and that Apple co-opted -- it was balanced by Jobs' presence at the San Francisco event. It was his first public appearance since he announced last January that he was taking an , and made up for a missing "One more thing" announcement that has made Apple's product launches famous.

"Steve Jobs doing the presentation, that was important," said Gottheil. Jobs received a standing ovation from the crowd of reporters and others at the invitation-only event.

Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach says Apple has been forced to release a new version to stay ahead of the competition, notably tablet devices from Samsung, Motorola, HP, HTC and RIM.