“The rumors of a mini iPad have surfaced once again, and I’m starting to believe them. Both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal report that Apple will launch an iPad with a screen smaller than 8 inches this year, citing unnamed sources,” Jard Newman writes for TIME Magazine.
“In the world of Apple rumors, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal represent a sort of turning point,” Newman writes. “Their stories about unreleased Apple products are usually vague on details, but the gist–that product X will be released during timeframe Y–tends to be correct, especially when both publications report the same story.”
Newman writes, “I’ve been trying to think of ways in which a smaller iPad wouldn’t destroy Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet and Google’s upcoming Nexus 7, but so far, I’ve got nothing.”
Read more in the full article here.
This just seems so right.
If true, and the price is under 300, it will outsell the 9.7 ipad. Kids and adults wouldn’t leave home without it. It would be the ultimate school, business and leisure gadget.
I can’t wait for the day when the iPad mini begins outselling its bigger brother. I hope all the mini haters will be here when MDN makes that post.
There’s no way Apple can leave this easy money competitive preemptive market share stone left unturned, It will happen and when it does other tablet makers day of Armegeddon will have arrived. Bah-bye, we barely knew ye…
There is no money in the ~7″ pad market. If you disagree: Prove it!
Easy. The Nexus 7 is sold at cost for $199 with no economy of scale. . So if Apple sells theirs for $299 there is it is. Its more than plausible.
That doesn’t prove that there is profit in the 7″ tablet market. Amazon loses $50 or so per unit. Google plans to make its money off of more people doing mobile searches rather than hardware sales.
Apple makes its money on hardware sales, so selling a 7″ tablet even at a break-even price point doesn’t work for Apple’s business model. Also, Apple has NEVER sold a product at a break-even or loss leader price just to grab market share, because Apple recognizes that market share does NOT equal success.
I’m talking about right NOW. We’re talking about the cheap-ass market that won’t buy an actual iPad. Why would they toss another $100 at an iPad mini when they can be cheap-ass and get a Nexus 7 ? ? ?
The logic regarding this iPad Mini is entirely missing.
The reason there is no money in the ‘7″ pad market’ is because Apple does not sell a 7″ iPad. Yet. 😉
If this rumor mill proves true, I hopehopehope Apple makes nice profits without cannibalizing iPad sales to their detriment. But I continue to see no market justification for any iPad ‘mini’. Good luck with that.
And that’s probably why you don’t run Apple…
If nothing else, it’s a ripe market for children. My six-year-old uses my iPad 1st gen now. But it’s a little awkward and heavy for her, so a 7″ is probably just right. I’d be first in line to buy her one at $199, $299, or even $349. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that Apple’s price to produce the $499 new iPad was around $270. If so, the smaller screen should make the 7″ producible at a decent profit even at $299.
Dear Anonymous Coward ‘misterME’:
1) None of the ‘actual cost’ estimates published about computer hardware take into account the costs of R&D (Research and Development). That is because the have no idea of R&D costs. Therefore these numbers are barely useful or meaningful.
2) Why would I ever run Apple? But there once was this guy who co-created Apple and actually DID run the company. His name was Steve Jobs. He made a long statement regarding the pointlessness of creating and selling ~7″ iPads. And he was correct! That market has yet to make any Android OtherPad makers a cent of profit. Amazon actually loses money with each Kindle Fire sale! And they’re the top ~7″ OtherPad seller!
But please sit and watch some more as the ~7″ OtherPad market plays out. Feel good about the fact that you won’t have to say I told you so. Instead you can feel good that Steve Jobs told you so! 😀
can someone explain to me why anyone had ever a doubt that apple may do a 7 inch tablet, when they always had one below 4 ? the ipod touch ? I simply don’t get it. Even Steve fooled the world when he spoke against it , while at the same time selling millons of ipod touches.
The iPad mini exists… Its called the iPod Touch… Enjoy!
That’s a little TOO mini. Great size for an iPod, however, which is why I’d prefer Apple make a separate, larger device rather than mess with the iPod touch (though its screen size def needs an increase to 4 inches).
The materials cost and assembly for the device would likely be in the $175-$200 range. (I’m estimating from articles previously cited here at MDN regarding iPad2-3 costs.) So perhaps the device would sell at retail for about $299.
If Apple decides to subsidize the price with revenues & profits from revenues captured from online sales and clicks by device owner, it could set the price anywhere from $199 to $299.
But I hope that Apple doesn’t do that. That option allows companies to deceive themselves and investors about the likelihood and size of future sales … to unknown consumers in other nations.
Assuming a 30% profit margin on goods sold, a $100 subsidy won’t be recovered until the average mini-user spends $333 downloading services. For many — gamers and facebookers, older consumers, or purchasers in less developed nations — that may never happen. They may use the device for games, email, browsing photos and other activities that involve very little downstream spending.
Because you would never know until long after the sale whether it was profitable, you therefore wouldn’t be able to rationally adjust your sales strategy or production volume, either.
The attraction of the mini-tablet is cost, not size.
So get an iPod Touch today!
zzzzzz
If turnips were swords, i’d wear one by my side
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I honestly believe that the rumored iPad mini will not be called that; it will be dubbed the new iPod touch. Call me crazy, but it’s the only scenario that makes sense to me.
Some speculate it would be called the iPod touch XL or some crap, which is fine by me. The world will still recognize it as a mini tablet. A rose by any other name.
However if you’re proposing that Apple kill the iPod touch in its current form and replace it with a device that’s 5-8 inches, that would be a bad move IMO. The iPod touch is a great device and needs to remain perfectly pocketable with a screen no larger than 4 inches. I want a separate device that leaves the iPod touch intact, an addition to the iOS family.
Being hand-held, pocketable devices the iPhone and iPod Touch screen sizes should continue to mirror each other. If they can shrink the bezel and expand the screen size a tad without meaningfully increasing the total volume and weight of the devices I wouldn’t mind that, but not too much.
I concur that the smaller iPad, if it is made, will probably be called the iPod Touch. Apple has not problem with killing off popular products and repalcing with something that will be jsut as popular if not more so. Remember the iPod mini? It was wildly popular at the time and Steve cacked it and replaced with the Nano. The iPod Touch is declining in sales if I remember correctly.
iPod touch and iPod Touch.
I think Apple can make a WiFi only iPad mini in 8 GB, 16 GB & 32 GB for $250, $300 & $350 and average $100 profit per unit.
I think that would kill if it was in 4:3 not 16:9 ratio.