“Apple’s iPad event was pretty unsurprising. It was obvious that the large one would be speed-bumped and get lighter. It was also obvious that the Mini would get retina at some point – the only question was whether the supply chain could deliver enough panels now (with some well-informed people suggesting it could not), and the late-November ship date and $400 price point to how close it was,” Benedict Evans blogs.
“However, the big puzzle is the price the now old Mini is discounted to: $300. This compares poorly to a new Nexus 7, with comparable resolution to the retina Mini, at $230,” Evans writes. “The Nexus 7 is of course being sold at very low margin by Google, but does the old Mini really need to be $300 rather than, say, $275 or $250? What is Apple thinking?”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPad mini has a 7.9-inch display boasting 29.96 sq. inches of display area. That is 36% larger than Google’s plastic Nexus 7’s tiny 7-inch display’s 22.02 sq. inches. Google’s Nexus 7 offers a display that’s just 64% of Apple’s iPad mini. 64% of Apple’s $299 iPad mini price is $191.36, not $230.
So, why is Google’s tiny-screen Nexus 7 priced so high?
Is it for the privilege of running second-rate Android phone apps blown up to fit the plastic iPad wannabe’s screen while iPad mini users choose from nearly half a million apps that are designed specifically for iPad?
“Apple’s $300 Mini really isn’t a competitive problem, because the iPad doesn’t yet face a strong competitive threat (quite unlike the iPhone). Rather, there are actually two quite different markets: the post-PC vision, where Apple is dominant, and a ultra-low margin product that’s also called a tablet but which is really a totally different product [that are used to watch lots of video and are therefore basically competing with TVs, not iPads.]”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Any way you slice it. iPad has no competition.
I’ve got a 4th gen iPad and a nexus 7. I don’t have any real complaints about either one but will say that if you have kids the iPad has a far better educational software selection.
I have been an iPad user since May 2010 when they first started trickling into the stores. In August, though, I bought a new model WiFi Nexus 7 because of the screen, the lower price AND the GPS, something Apple makes you pay an extra $129 for with a LTE model and MDN seemed to leave out of their price comparison.
That being said, I will probably pony up for a new iPad Air when available and retire my older iPad.
Summary: Comparing the iPad Mini to the Nexus 7, especially on price, is like comparing apples to lemons. (Another stupid analyst comparison and recommendation.)
I’d rather bite into an apple than a lemon.
Apple is lining up their prices in anticipation of phablet type devices, such as a 5″-6″ iPod touch. Those will compete with the Nexus. The iPad mini is out of its league and will become increasingly so as Apple adds more features like Touch ID in the future. Having it slotted at $399 is perfect. The $299 mini is temporary until an iPod touch XL/iPad nano type device takes its place next year, alongside the corresponding launch of the iPhone Plus.
Agreed. If Apple decides to enter the realm of “phablet” sized devices, it’ll be with the iPod touch, not iPad or iPhone. The iPad won’t get any smaller than the mini and iPhone will only approach 5″ (still guessing 4.7″), never surpass it.
The 6″ iPod touch will be released when they can drop the price of the Retina iPad mini and get rid of the original model.
I think we’ll see new iPod models this Spring and a “Pro” iPad model.
Naming the new iPad “Air” does leave the door wide open for an iPad Pro model.
They always talk like some real iPad competitors are just around the corner.
The new mini also got the A7 64 bit chip. That is a big improvement that everyone has seamed to not notice. They talk about the retina display being the only upgrade and complain about the price increase. The fandroids have backed themselves into a corner on 64 bit. The longer Google takes to come out with a 64 bit version the more it proves Apple is ahead. When OEM’s start producing them without 4 GB of RAM then they will backpedal fast. They could put in 4 GB, but that would put them at a price disadvantage.
As far as the Nexus 7, it is not secure enough for business. This is according to Samsung, along with their tablets too. iPad has a lot more professional apps, especially for targeted use ( medical, construction, aircraft etc.). There is a reason the iPad 2 is still for sell. The mini 1 has a market that Nexus would love.