Will iPad Mini really cost $199?

May 13, 2012

I suppose a better question could be: Will an iPad Mini ever be released?

Apple blogs – and even news sites — are reporting that a 7-inch iPad ‘mini’ will hit the market this year offering 8GB of space and only cost $199. That would directly compete against the Kindle Fire. And if it’s just a smaller iPad that offers everything a normal iPad offers, Amazon should be nervous.

The Washington Post argues that Apple would shrink its iPad to gain larger market-share in Asia, where its millions of commuters prefer a smaller tablet while using public transportation.

iMore predicts the tablet to hit U.S. markets in October, quoting a source that said it would be priced aggressively to push out competitors.

But how can Apple price an iPad at $199? Right now an 8GB iPod Touch costs $199. If Apple releases an iPad mini priced at $199, it would have to sell 8GB iPod Touch’s for $99.

Even if Apple prices the iPad mini at $250, which is still aggressive enough to out-compete Amazon, they would have to slice iPod Touch prices.

Storage isn’t a concern, as iCloud will likely become even better with iOS 6 and make storage less of an issue, but I find it hard to believe that Apple would make its product line bigger, instead of streamlining it.

People in favor of an iPad Mini say it’ll make for a better reading device. I can’t complain about that. Holding a 10-inch iPad for an extended period of time can become tiresome. The ladies are also saying it will fit in their purse better. My wife’s iPad and Kate Spade case fits in her purse pretty well. Maybe husbands should go out and buy their wives bigger purses.

People not in favor of an iPad mini, however, call it a waste of a product. It would essentially be a large iPod Touch that you can’t strap to your arm during workouts. Others would even argue that 8GB isn’t enough space, but I suppose Apple could price a 16 or 32 GB iPad Mini at $250-$300.

Can Apple sell an iPad Mini for $199? Sure. Will they? I don’t think so. What say you?

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