iPad Mini Rumors Return, 7.8″ Screen with a Launch in Fall of 2012?
Apple is said to be working on a smaller iPad with a 7.85″ display, according to a new report from Digitimes. Citing sources in the supply chain, the “iPad Mini” is suggested to debut late in 2012, not alongside the expected iPad 3 release earlier in the year.
Digitimes sources suggest that Apple decided to produce the smaller iPad to handle increasing competition in the tablet marketplace, specifically from the Kindle Fire:
However, in order to cope with increasing market competition including the 7-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon and the launch of large-size smartphones from handset vendors, Apple has been persuaded into the development of 7.85-inch iPads, the sources indicated.
Getting more specific, the display panels for the device are said to be supplied by LG and AU Optronics, and that production will begin at the end of the second quarter of next year.
This isn’t the first time a report of an iPad with a smaller 7.85-inch display has surfaced. Last month, an analyst report also suggested that a smaller iPad would be released sometime in 2012, in addition to the iPad 3 with a retina display.
I think Apple is trying to replace the Amazon Kindle Fire by making this mini iPad, so it should cost around the same as the Fire.
[…] working on smaller iPads, or “iPad Mini“, have existed for quite some time, with a recent report from DigiTimes stating such a device could ship in the fourth quarter of this […]
iPod Touch Maxi or iPad Mini?
I just don’t see it. Why carry around another device that’s only slightly larger than the iPhone you (presumably) already have? It would have to have a retina display to make it worthwhile, and at that point, you’re probably looking at $500.
I agree with Benizia. I’d believe a 4 inch iPhone/iPod Touch over 7 inch iPad. It doesn’t fit anywhere in Apple’s price structure, it really is just a tad too small for vertical portrait reading (held horizontal landscape you can get a good view, but you have to scroll up and down in a two column layout.
It just doesn’t feel like a good size.
I am skeptical of the 7″ form factor based on what Steve Jobs said in the past, recall the comments on shaving down your finger tips… plus some of the issues with reading on the Kindle Fire with smaller text. Here is what I think is going to happen instead:
— iPad 3 with retina display is out in April, sells for $499 and up
— iPad 2 16 GB stays on the market as a lower cost option, priced at $399
It’s the iPhone family of products approach going to the iPad line, it’s bound to happen. Where would a 7″ fit into this? At $299? That is an unlikely price point, too close to the iPod touch. At $399 it would be still 2x the cost of Kindle Fire, and would match the price of the hypothetical new iPad 2 base model, so that is equally unlikely.
Apple isn’t going to race the tablet market to the bottom on price. Amazon is losing money on each Kindle sale, hoping to make it up on purchases, but that isn’t the profit model of Apple. Thus, a $199 iPad 7″ is never going to happen, and a $299 model is unlikely to be possible given the iPod touch. And why offer something at that price point when ultimately the device they want to sell is $399?