Apple iPad Mini To Launch In 2012 [Rumor Mill]
The Apple iPad Mini will arrive before the end of the year according to new rumors reported by the New York Times. The device is meant to better compete with the Google Nexus 7 tablet which just launched with a smaller display and plenty of critical praise.
If the rumor is correct the Apple mini iPad will feature a 7.85-inch display and will sell for a significant discount compared to the 9.7-inch new iPad which comes at a premium starting cost of $499. It is not clear at this time if the same retina display will be utilized.
Apple’s launch of a small-sized tablet would allow the tech firm to compete in an industry that is attempting to break itself up into smaller segments that would allow users to pick and choose among various types of devices.
The launch would also coincide with the next generation Amazon Kindle Fire and Microsoft’s Surface tablet. Should Apple take sales from those providers and the Google Nexus 7 the company could carve out another majority share of an emerging tablet market.
While buyers can currently purchased the second-generation iPad for $399 Apple does not offer a product close to the $199 price range of the Nexus 7.
Apple maintains its dominance of the tablet market by controlling 60 to 70 percent of currently sold devices, should smaller tablets emerge as market leaders the failure to offer similarly sized devices could hurt Apple’s branding recognition amount tablet users.
Would you be willing to throw down your hard-earned cash for an Apple iPad Mini based tablet?
