As has been revealed by two new surveys, people seem to be eagerly looking forward to the speculated Apple tablet device, but most of them say that they would not pay a high price for the gadget, not anything over $700, to be specific.

Apple, the technology giant of the iPod and Macbook fame, is expected to announce its "latest creation" next week, at a press event scheduled for Wednesday, and anticipations are strong that the company would be announcing a new slate.

Earlier this month, at Las Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show, various giant PC manufacturers, including Dell and HP, had taken the wraps off their tablet computers. Also, reports are that Google and HTC are working together on a tablet. In such a scenario, it would not be a very surprising move on Apple’s part.

On Thursday, ChangeWave Research and shopping portal Retrevo. com revealed results of their different surveys undertaken about the Apple tablet.

While ChangeWave Research surveyed 3,314 customers over the month, Retrevo. com's survey included 500 consumers.

ChangeWave shared that while there is a "strong consumer interest", only about 4% said that they are "very likely" to pick up the product. Retrevo. com survey participants, on the other hand, were also interested in the tablet, but a whopping 70% said that they would not be paying anything over $700 for the device.