Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad mini price drop?
- Thread starter ZBoater
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Could happen. Depends on sales. They may have wiggle room. Then again, I've read rumors about some production issues, but I think you always hear those,regardless.
Won't happen, just look at the pre-orders...
They could drop the 16Go version, but that's all imo.
Only price drop I would like to see is the cost of memory. Memory is cheap and Apple should be packing these devices with 64gb at a minimum with as much as 128 or even 256gb for a little more. Either that or give use a SD slot!😱
It's a free market. RIM, Samsung all tried to $499 price point and failed. Where's the HTC Flyer? How are they doing?
Microsoft surface tablet even at 32gb/$499 is a tough sell against the market leader $499/16gb iPad. It's got a limited Eco system itself. People claim its got office built in. Won't matter to most customers.
I read an article saying that Apple has to keep the high price, or Wall Street will make them pay more if they reduce the profit margin.
U got to be kidding? How many laptops are shipped with 128gb SSD? It's a premium even for windows laptop that ship for 128gb SSD.
As. Replacement. Most 128gn SSD at retail sell for $100-120. 256gb are $160-200.
Tim has previously stated that Apple does not build to a price point, their price is set by designing the product they want to sell and tacking on their margin. Another thing you need to consider is production capacity. Lets say the demand at the current price will be 5 million units this quarter. If they drop the price by $100 let's say they could push demand up to 8 million units. But if they can only ship 5 million units due to production constraints then the added demand is waisted. A third argument for not dropping the price is that Apple may want to maintain its image as a premium brand. Dropping your price to what the Kindle/Nexus are going for could dilute that image.
It could happen, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
It could happen, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
It's all simple economics.
It's going to come down to if sales meet expectations and if customers see the alternatives as viable competition. Monday is a big day. If the rumors are true and Google comes out with a $199 16 gig, $249 32 gig and $299 32 gig cellular model AND customers show and interest, it could put downward pressure on Apple's price.
A lot of folks like to tout Apple as a niche premium brand company. That's true with Macbooks, iMacs and at its new price point, the iPod Touch. But if they are looking for mass sales in a potentially competitive environment, it's going to be much more sensitive to price than those products.
There is a reason the iPhone's subsidized price is $199/$299. As popular as it is, a lot of people would think bit harder about buying one if it was $249/$349.
They've already given themselves a little wiggle room with the stories about low production yeild. The fact the price has already been defended by Cook means that it's on their radar. If demand is soft, I could see a story coming out about production catching up and Apple lowering the price by $30. Apple being Apple, I'd put the odds at about 20% of that happening though.
It's going to come down to if sales meet expectations and if customers see the alternatives as viable competition. Monday is a big day. If the rumors are true and Google comes out with a $199 16 gig, $249 32 gig and $299 32 gig cellular model AND customers show and interest, it could put downward pressure on Apple's price.
A lot of folks like to tout Apple as a niche premium brand company. That's true with Macbooks, iMacs and at its new price point, the iPod Touch. But if they are looking for mass sales in a potentially competitive environment, it's going to be much more sensitive to price than those products.
There is a reason the iPhone's subsidized price is $199/$299. As popular as it is, a lot of people would think bit harder about buying one if it was $249/$349.
They've already given themselves a little wiggle room with the stories about low production yeild. The fact the price has already been defended by Cook means that it's on their radar. If demand is soft, I could see a story coming out about production catching up and Apple lowering the price by $30. Apple being Apple, I'd put the odds at about 20% of that happening though.
Last edited:
Good point. The question that needs to be answered is, does Apple want to dominate the 7" market as they do the 10" market, or will they be content with the top end of the 7" market. Apples dominance in the 10" market can be attributed in part to the fact that no one else has ever been able to get a foothold in that market. With the 7" market will be facing established players. They could try to compete on price but that may just lead to a race to the bottom when the other players drop their prices even lower.
mattopotamus
macrumors Pentium
the only time they have ever dropped a price really fast was the original iphone, and if you were an early adopter they refunded you the difference.
jmpnop
macrumors 6502a
I don't think they'll drop the price now. iPod Touch 4th saw a price drop from $229 to $199 last year. The next mini might start at $299 for 16GB model. As for the 9.7" model, hopefully they make 32GB standard and introduce 128GB model.
