There are a lot of rumours floating around about an Apple tablet or Netbook device. It would make sense for Apple to get into this market as all the other PC manufacturers are cashing in on the Netbook craze, the success of which is partially attributed to the recession.
In the past Apple have gone for the high-end market and worked their way down to a low cost product. The iPod shuffle was a perfect example of this. Following this logic Apple will at some point create a device to compete in this market. Granted, it will probably still be more expensive than its rivals, but I think an Apple portable computing device which will be some where between the Macbook Air and and iPhone is on the way.
This is of course just speculation and most of the other reports I've heard event the ones from really credible sources are unconfirmed and little more than rumours.