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Phil Schiller Defends iPad Mini Pricing Decision
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I disagree, even without discounts on the full size iPad, I see no reason to get a 7.9" unit with a price difference of $70. They will probably stay on shelves during the holidays. Market will dictate the price - they'll be forced to reduce to $299 or lower.
no rear camera - I sincerely believe anyone taking a cpiture with the rear camera on a tablet looks stupid.
poor screen contrast - Says who? Most reviews praise the higher res screen
smaller screen - Duh it's a smaller device, it's like complaining that the iPod Touch has a smaller screen
poor selection of tablet apps - I concede
poor performing GPU - May score lower benchmarks over iPad Mini but plays all the games fine
no 5ghz wifi support - Most people still don't have 5GHZ routers
no LTE/no 3G - And the price reflects it
thicker - Not thick enough for people to complain
heavier - If 50 grams is too much for you...
weak distribution and support network - I concede
For a device that $70 cheaper (Even less if you count in LTE), will be hard for many consumers to make a decision between the two.
Now did I say that? You are reading too much into it. Does Android even have a fan site?
Sure the screen is larger, but since it's a lower resolution it can't show as much content.
Since apple released "retina" products and made that spec one of the biggest selling points.
Based on how often my iPad 2 has to reload web pages when I switch tabs, I beg to differ. Overall, it's a great model and I still love it, but they made a mistake giving it that little ram, and the experience suffers for it.
The truth is that even at $329 this thing will outsell any lower priced Android tablet. In a few months Tim Cook will be up on stage telling the world how the iPad Mini is the best selling tablet in history, blah blah blah, same old story. People will buy the Mini in droves because in their mind the Apple brand is worth the extra $$$, and Apple knows this.
Well, they were selling inferior products for premium prices back then, and we still bought it, because it was Apple. But now they are selling basically the best stuff out there on premium prices, which are nowadays less of a premium of what it was back then even, so no big deal today. And that's why they are on a roll.
Your ipad 3 is not obsolete!!! Can it not run software the ipad 4 can?
The ipad 4 is a minor revision not even worth upgrading to from a ipad3.
Nothing new apart from A6 processor, which is major change but not even that much
The ipad 4 is a minor revision not even worth upgrading to from a ipad3.
Nothing new apart from A6 processor, which is major change but not even that much
RAM does not equal storage space...
More cores meants faster processing... Meaning fast photo loading, faster browsing, faster CPU related processes, and more
NFC, doesn't matter if you find it useful or not, it's still an extra feature.
That has been explained elsewhere before, but let's go again...
The Euro has become weaker in the last seven months. Apple tends to set one price and keep with it, no matter where the exchange rate goes, but Apple _did_ get fewer dollars for the iPad 3 now than they did 7 months ago. When a new product is released, the price is adjusted, sometimes up and people complain, sometimes down and everybody is quiet.
It isn't about the number of apps I buy - it is about the number of apps I have to choose from. Can you tell me the stellar update history on Nexus devices? Because everything I researched shows that it is still crappy. iOS has been updated a little over every other month on average. I have a friend who has had an Android phone for almost 2 years and has received 1 minor update. Pathetic.
I'll break it down for you since apparently we were watching two separate keynotes yesterday.
What's so compelling about the mini? Portability, build quality, App Selection etc...
Missing GPS? I've had every version of the full sized iPad, and rarely have I used GPS functionality. That's what your smartphone is for(Whichever you choose).
Embarrassingly low screen resolution? You're complaining about the price now, imagine what this would cost if it had retina! These things come at a price.
Outdated OS?Microsoft windows has been virtually the same for over 15 years with it's iconic start menu, yet it continues to be the best selling desktop OS on the planet. iOS has had the same look, and feel for 6 years and all of the sudden it's "stale", "outdated", etc...There's nothing Android can do that iOS can't, and believe me when I say this because I'm using a SG3! Plus the app selection for Android tablets is embarrassing!
Overpriced music/video content?
Apple has set the standard with iTunes when it comes to music, and video. Only recently has Amazon decided to undercut Apple in the hopes to attract people to their services.
The bottom line is, it's unfair when the competition sells their products at cost. Because then everyone starts to claim that Apple is overpriced. I remember when the iPad first launched, everyone marveled at how low the pricing was in relation to what they assumed it would be. Then when other full sized tablets with dramatically less function started releasing at much higher pricing than the iPad no one complained. Fast forward 3 years, and look what we have here. I guess you really can't please everyone.
Did you think of working with an Apple Business Unit rep to see if pricing was adjustable?
My company sure doesn't pay $499 for the regular iPads we deploy.
"And now you can get a device that's even more affordable at $329 in this great new form, and I think a lot of customers are going to be very excited about that," Schiller said.
That´s basically Apple saying "If you can´t afford it, get lost".
I for one couldn´t care less about another iToy anyways...
Without getting into the argument on if the price is fair or not, you can tell Phil (and the rest of Apple's upper management) are completely out of touch, and think that $329 is a 'significant saving' over $399. They could have very easily afforded to go to $299, to get the 'WOW' effect. The actual value (i.e build cost) of the product is likely only around $70 per tablet.
They state they mostly focus on making a profit on hardware, they also make a killing on content as well. Even with that said I can see how it is not their model to sell it near cost. It is about the form factor even though it is smaller with dated tech. Maybe with an upgrade next year it will feel worth it.
I have two boys aged 6 and 9 who fight like like cats and dogs over my iPad 3. At a lower price I'd have bought them an iPad mini each for Christmas. I don't think an iPad mini is worth £269 (though around £200-£220 would be fair) so Apple won't be getting my business this time around.
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