New iFruit Tablets

The iFruit company is upgrading its iPad lineup to fend off a growing list of competitors, which are introducing their own tablets at lower prices with snazzier features.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will debut a high-definition iPad mini and a thinner iPad at a San Francisco event tomorrow, people with knowledge of the plans have said.

Facing two straight quarters of declining profit and a stock that’s down by more than a quarter from a September 2012 record, Apple is facing a similar challenge with the iPad as it has with the iPhone, battling lower-cost rivals and proving that incremental changes to existing products are enough to draw customers. The iPad is Apple’s second-best selling gadget after the iPhone and the new models will be critical as the company seeks to reignite growth.

“Tablets are a maturing market,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in San Francisco. “It will be difficult for Apple to move the needle on new tablet sales, as the strongest growth is coming from emerging markets where customers are more price sensitive.”

Apple saw its share of the tablet market contract to 32 percent in the second quarter from 60 percent a year earlier, according to researcher IDC. While iPad sales more than doubled every quarter since the 2010 debut, growth of the devices hasn’t topped 66 percent since mid-2012.