iPad Mini won’t start at $199, says iPod Touch
Apple’s Keynote Address today gave us more than just an iPhone 5 and new iPod family. It also gave us some insight into how much the iPad Mini will cost.
The iPad Mini, a smaller version of Apple’s tablet, will feature a 7.85-inch screen and be small enough to hold in just one hand, but big enough so you’re not straining your eyes reading emails and surfing the web.
Many rumors have pointed to Apple setting an aggressive price on the iPad Mini to directly compete against Google and its Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD tablet. The smaller version of the Kindle Fire HD — Amazon’s new flagship media tablet — costs $199.
When Apple announced its new family of iPods, it priced its new (and colorful!) iPod Touch at $299. The older-generation iPod Touch will be priced at $199.
Apple obviously isn’t going to price its smaller tablet at that price.
While I would like to believe that the iPad Mini would start at $250, there’s absolutely no way. The iPad Mini will start at $350.
The only way this can be prevented is if Apple requires a data plan with a contract (which won’t happen), then the cellular companies could subsidize the tablet.
Can that price still compete with Amazon and Google’s smaller tablet? I’d assume so, being that the iPad is so popular right now. At today’s Keynote, which introduced the new iPhone 5, Apple CEO Time Cook gave some pretty staggering numbers on how successful their iPad is performing.
The iPad now holds 68 percent of the total tablet market share; more than 83 million have sold since June alone; and the iPad is 91 percent of all tablet web traffic.
If the math isn’t adding up for you, it shouldn’t. Cook joked at the Keynote, asking “are those other tablets just stuffed away at the bottom of a dresser or something?”
Part of the iPad’s growth is thanks in part to major, Fortune 500 companies who are investing in the tablet and creating custom apps for their business, Cook said.
Of the 700,000 iOS apps on the market today, 250,000 were designed specifically for the iPad.
In total, more than 400 million iOS devices have sold since June 2012. That includes iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads.
Apple is expected to hold another Keynote Address next month to introduce the iPad Mini, which is rumored for release before the holidays.
