Apple to Ramp Up 7.85″ iPad Mini Production in September?

[faroZ06]

I actually think they might "discontinue" the iPod Touch and reintroduce it as an iPad Nano, because really, the iPod Touch is so much more than an iPod, so it actually kinda deserves to bear the iPad Nano name.

From a marketing standpoint, the iPad is the new iPod, as far as status symbols are concerned, so just on the name "iPad Nano" alone, you'd probably generate a lot of appeal and interest in the product. iPad, iPad Mini, iPad Nano. It fits the lineup quite well, I think.

I agree with that. But still, the iPad mini and iPad nano should not be the same price or be very close. By the way, it's "iPod touch" right now. Apple uses lowecase letters in the second word of an iPod name.

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It would be a problem if the mini were to sell for $200, but it won't. It's been widely reported that both the Fire and Nexus 7 are sold at or below cost. Apple isn't going to sell any major hardware product at or below cost. Amazon and Google have different business models than Apple, which is why those two are willing to not make $ off the hardware.

I'm not saying this is false, but isn't it illegal to sell products below manufacturing cost? That's very anticompetitive.

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I would not be surprised if the price of the touch gets dropped. In fact I think that may be the only logical solution.

Yeah, I'm sure it's already being sold for much more than it costs to make (like they famously do for everything). Once the iPad mini comes out, and the market value of an iPod touch goes down, Apple will have to drop the price.

 

[Ryth]

I agree with that. But still, the iPad mini and iPad nano should not be the same price or be very close. By the way, it's "iPod touch" right now. Apple uses lowecase letters in the second word of an iPod name.

They probably won't be.

$150 for the iPod Touch
$299 for the iPad Mini

Those aren't close in price. Apple is not going to come in at $200 for the iPad Mini.

 

[Nungster]

I think they will stage it at least a month after the new iPhone, let our credit cards time to cool off a little

Your credit cards. Since I am on the 4s 2yr contract renewal cycle, I am mid contract, so this gives me something to oggle.

 

[charlituna]

SJ would never Launch something before the holiday!

Well lucky for Apple he's dead. Tim Cook can do whatever he wants.

Then again we don't know whose idea it was to move the 4s to Sept last year.



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Sad that Apple is so quick to toss out Steve Jobs' opinions now that he's dead. Steve knew that the public wanted a 10 inch screen.... hence why iPads dominate the market and no one can even name an android tablet. He would have never let this 7 inch iPad happen.

Until Timmy and friends say it, this is still just a rumor.

Then again, perhaps Steve was being pigheaded and stupid saying no and they are doing the right thing releasing something smaller

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Google isn't but I don't think Asus is losing money on making them though. A BoM analysis pegged down the cost of a Nexus 7 8GB at $160 and the 16GB version at $167. $200 is probably pushing it but IMHO $250 is definitely doable even for Apple, especially if they put the 8GB version at $250 but hopefully Apple will feel less stingy and give us 16GB as the base model.

Plus Apple will have the 3G/LTE version which will carry a much higher margin. I'd imagine many people will buy the 3G/LTE version since it makes a lot more sense for the more mobile iPad.

My understanding is that Asus manufactures the device for Google, just like Foxconn manufactures the iPad for Apple. Asus gets paid full boat by Google. Google is the one that takes the hair cut. As I said in previous post, Apple's not going to sell an iPad 7" at break even or loss.

 

[charlituna]

I'll definitely be considering this for my girlfriend's birthday. The new iPad and the iPad 2 & 1 are pretty expensive. But if the projected cost is in the $200-$250 dollar range, I doubt there will be any hesitation in October when her birthday rolls around.

Your girlfriend isn't worth $400. Wow, I feel sorry for her

 

[little.pm]

Apple might have to shift some price points to make room and to give reason to buy an iPod touch or an iWhateverTheyCallIt with a close to 8 in screen.

Then again, to kill the competition Apple might be willing to endure lower margins if that means to effectively kill the competition.

I think they might drop the price for the entry model iPod touch, introduce the long awaited 256GB model for some audiophiles at a hefty price, but they might sell on the line of "you kid could have an iPod touch, but look, here is that mini tablet, which provides other good uses as well, like using it for school"

The size is irrelevant as Apple had a 10" tablet in the works when they decided to go with a 3.8" version - without sandpaper - so anything larger than that can suffice for a touch UI.

My personal guess is simply that Apple will replace large portions of the iPod touch lineup with such tablet.

Hence, I believe that they cut the price for the iPod touch with 8GB down to ~ 149 USD and that the 8 GB version of that mini tablet will sell for 199 USD quit.

That way Apple could and would kill any competing product.

 

[swagi]

"Honey..u know how we hate when the 18 m/o baby cries because her sister won't let her play with the iPad? Well, I found a solution..And the only reason im gonna do this is to eliminate some stress out of your life..Because I love u"

The weird thing is that this EXACT (right down to the age and genders) situation is playing out in the other room in my house...

in my house it's usually between me and my baby. I feel like a bad father.

Yes - actually you all should feel bad. A good parent would sit there and read a fairytale, sing a song or something like that. A good parent would encourage dealing with the real world - and not with virtual stuff on a screen.

Just my 0.02$

 

[Glideslope]

4 Million a month won't meet demand at $199.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

I would LOVE to have an iPad mini. I got to use a company iPad for a couple of months and loved it, but I think the tiny one is more up my alley.

 

[sulpfiction]

Yes - actually you all should feel bad. A good parent would sit there and read a fairytale, sing a song or something like that. A good parent would encourage dealing with the real world - and not with virtual stuff on a screen.

Just my 0.02$

Sheesh..I bet ur real fun at a party.

And I got news for u.."virtual stuff on a screen" is the "real world". And even moreso for a baby. I'm encouraging my kids to spend more time on the iPad and the Mac. Because in 15-20 years that "virtual stuff on a screen" is gonna be all there is.

 

[D.T.]

Sheesh..I bet ur real fun at a party.

Armchair parent

My little one used the iPad as a supplement to our daily reading, learning, sharing, storytime, playtime, etc., and learned shapes, colors ... then letters and numbers ... and also some hand-eye coordination, basic logic, and now even reading.

Books aren't the real world either, but we encourage our little one to use those too (just got some new ones in this week).

Not to mention, you can't be around ALL the time, every second, so having a device that can be an excellent learning tool is terrific. The other day she way watching Planet Earth on her iPad and came in to my office and told me all about killer whales and whatnot. Then we sat together and looked up some additional videos, talked about them had a great time.

 

[LAS.mac]

$200 iPad mini? No way! The iPod touch is $200. That would be ultimate market cannibalism.

I agree. 199-299-399 $ are the current prices for the Touch. Unless Apple decides that the Touch is at its end of life, then I'd say that an eventual iPad Mini will be just half way between that price and current New iPad. So roughly 350 $ as a starting point.

 

[sulpfiction]

Armchair parent

My little one used the iPad as a supplement to our daily reading, learning, sharing, storytime, playtime, etc., and learned shapes, colors ... then letters and numbers ... and also some hand-eye coordination, basic logic, and now even reading.

Books aren't the real world either, but we encourage our little one to use those too (just got some new ones in this week).

Not to mention, you can't be around ALL the time, every second, so having a device that can be an excellent learning tool is terrific. The other day she way watching Planet Earth on her iPad and came in to my office and told me all about killer whales and whatnot. Then we sat together and looked up some additional videos, talked about them had a great time.

Exactly! My 2 little girls have learned at such an accelerated rate then before they had the iPad. My 5 y/o knows EVERY state and EVERY capital just from playing "Stack the States". Without the iPad she wouldn't know more then 1 at this point. And that's just one app. The whole key is that they have fun doing it. It's not like learning to them. If I had sat down with my daughter and tried to teach her the states and capitals, she wouldn't be interested one bit. And most likely wouldnt know more then 2 or 3. I honestly think every single child should have access to an iPad from age 2 or 3. It is just such a good learning tool. But equally important is outdoors time...Which I also have no problem with. Both my kids are nature lovers, swimmers, and flat out dirtballs. They play outdoors constanly. The problem lies with kids who spend every waking moment indoors, and it front of a screen. It's all about moderation.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Which makes the iPod Touch a hugely successful product. In the same quarter, Microsoft sold about 1.3 to 1.4 million XBox 360.

True... but Apple didn't even update the iPod Touch last time.

That should be an indicator of the direction that particular device is headed.

I certainly don't think Apple will cancel the iPod Touch... but it's no longer a primary focus.

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I have no problem giving credit to Steve, I have a problem giving him all the credit which is what a lot of people do. You say Steve squashed bad ideas. Well isn't it possible that he, himself had bad ideas too sometimes? At the Company tribute to Steve Jony Ive joked that Steve had some "dopey ideas" and that some of them were "truly dreadful". Of course we never hear about those things. We don't hear that the design of the original iMac basically existed before Steve came back (there's obviously a reason he didn't fire the ID team and bring in his own designers). No we head that Steve commanded someone to go build the iMac. Just like the G4 iMac - the press reports at the time were that Steve commanded Jony Ive to his garden and told him it needed to look like a sunflower. Yet if you read Walter Isaacson's book Steve's wife paints a different picture and claims it was Ive who came up with that idea.

I have no doubt that Apple wouldn't be where it is today without Steve. I don't doubt that Steve was the driving force behind making Apple the premier company in terms of great products, design, marketing, brand, etc. (how many companies have designers reporting directly to the CEO?). But I think at times he gets more credit than he deserves. He wasn't a designer, he wasn't an engineer yet quite often the way he's worshiped you'd think he designed and engineered this stuff himself. And how often have we heard stories about him ripping an idea to shreds only to claim it as his own later on. The whole Steve would/wouldn't have done xxx is getting quite ridiculous.

If people give Steve too much credit... that's up to those people.

I don't think giving credit is binary 1 or 0... or black or white.

You can't really dig into every single decision Apple makes and decide whether it was a Steve idea or someone else.

Steve was the face of Apple for many years. He was the guy on stage. He was on the cover of many magazines.

In contrast... I don't think you could ask the average person who the CEO of Lenovo is...

It's no wonder why people think Steve did it all. And it's really not harming anything for people to think that.

 

[YGAB]

Digitimes... might as well be the Onion.

still on the "steve-would-never-have-authorized-iPad-mini-/-i-hate-digitimes" bandwagon?

you folks are the extreme right Sarah Palins of the Apple world.

 

[Pupalei]

Yes - actually you all should feel bad. A good parent would sit there and read a fairytale, sing a song or something like that. A good parent would encourage dealing with the real world - and not with virtual stuff on a screen.

Just my 0.02$

This is so much ignorance wrapped in nonsense. PLEASE deprive your children of the tools they'll need to survive. Maybe they can work for mine.

 

[divinox]

I haven't seen that many people criticizing a 7.85" tablet, only a 7" tablet. I think 7.85" is still too small, but I haven't tried it of course.

How come 7.85" is too small, when 3.5" apparently was big enough?

 

[AppleScruff1]

How come 7.85" is too small, when 3.5" apparently was big enough?

Because.

 

[twoodcc]

well if they do release this thing, might as well release with the new iPhone, or close to it

 

[vanzantapple]

I do hope they make the iPad mini, I just hope they don't cripple it with old CPU/GPU, a small amount of RAM and average pixel density. Maybe I'm in the minority on this one but IMO Apple should use the same specs as the iPad3. Of course the screen and battery will be different physical sizes( I feel stupid that I even had to type that ). Price it close to similarly equipped iPads.

 

[fertilized-egg]

How come 7.85" is too small, when 3.5" apparently was big enough?

Because.

That's actually a valid concern because the 7.85" iPad supposedly runs iPad apps that were designed for the 9.7" display size. It probably isn't too bad given that the touch target size still won't fall below that of the iPhone but I can see some areas that could be problematic.

3.5" is big enough because it runs apps that are designed for 3.5", amazing eh? And no, the new 4" size won't make much of a difference because the touch target size doesn't change.

 

[faroZ06]

How come 7.85" is too small, when 3.5" apparently was big enough?

Because I'm talking about tablets running apps designed for a large screen, not phones.

 

[Technarchy]

Sad that Apple is so quick to toss out Steve Jobs' opinions now that he's dead. Steve knew that the public wanted a 10 inch screen.... hence why iPads dominate the market and no one can even name an android tablet. He would have never let this 7 inch iPad happen.

Apple could absolutely control the text book market with this move at all education levels.

Apple has a basic rule about this topic:

Can we make a significant contribution beyond what others have made in this area?

Rewriting the entire textbook industry would certainly qualify. Steve would not complain.

 

[swagi]

Sheesh..I bet ur real fun at a party.

And I got news for u.."virtual stuff on a screen" is the "real world". And even moreso for a baby. I'm encouraging my kids to spend more time on the iPad and the Mac. Because in 15-20 years that "virtual stuff on a screen" is gonna be all there is.

I think it is very inadequate for an 18 m/o child to use an iPad. Period. Does your 18 m/o kid have his/her own TV. What is your time limit on iPad usage? And have you ever heard something about "electronic device addictive behaviour"?

Exactly! My 2 little girls have learned at such an accelerated rate then before they had the iPad. My 5 y/o knows EVERY state and EVERY capital just from playing "Stack the States". Without the iPad she wouldn't know more then 1 at this point. And that's just one app. The whole key is that they have fun doing it. It's not like learning to them. If I had sat down with my daughter and tried to teach her the states and capitals, she wouldn't be interested one bit. And most likely wouldnt know more then 2 or 3. I honestly think every single child should have access to an iPad from age 2 or 3. It is just such a good learning tool. But equally important is outdoors time...Which I also have no problem with. Both my kids are nature lovers, swimmers, and flat out dirtballs. They play outdoors constanly. The problem lies with kids who spend every waking moment indoors, and it front of a screen. It's all about moderation.

I'll admit that for children age 4years+ an iPad is a nice complementary learning tool. No doubt about that. The OP is referencing to 18 months of age. And I don't think that's an age to use an iPad as your hands need tactile feedback. All they do is touch a flat surface for shape recognition. This is just plain wrong.

Armchair parent

My little one used the iPad as a supplement to our daily reading, learning, sharing, storytime, playtime, etc., and learned shapes, colors ... then letters and numbers ... and also some hand-eye coordination, basic logic, and now even reading.

Books aren't the real world either, but we encourage our little one to use those too (just got some new ones in this week).

Not to mention, you can't be around ALL the time, every second, so having a device that can be an excellent learning tool is terrific. The other day she way watching Planet Earth on her iPad and came in to my office and told me all about killer whales and whatnot. Then we sat together and looked up some additional videos, talked about them had a great time.

See above. For children 4years+ with beginning reading comprehension an iPad might be nice. But not for 18 months old.

This is so much ignorance wrapped in nonsense. PLEASE deprive your children of the tools they'll need to survive. Maybe they can work for mine.

Aaaaah - at least someone with a real clue. Guess you and your children were the role model for the human characters in Wall-E. Watch that flic again.

And my children will be educated to sneer at your TV and media manipulated zombie children with sheer arrogance.