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How would they price it lower than the iPod Touch? Clearly Apple has a screwed up pricing structure which I think is mostly to blame on the touch. If it were $200 or $250 instead of $300 it would be more in line with pricing on other iPod models and would open up a $250 or $300 price point for the iPad mini.
 
I for one think its a rip off, $249 to $299 TOPS. Thanks to the overpriced, in sufficient hardware, especially resolution it made my buying the Kindle Fire HD that much easier.

If it's no good, don't buy it.

If it's a rip off, don't buy it.

If people buy it, it's not a rip off.

If no one buys it, they will have to lower and reconsider the price point.

If you don't like their product at their price, vote for the competitors' products with your wallet.

This is a free market. :)
 
However, this comments speaks to arrogance.

Stating something they have the numbers to back up is arrogance. okay.

Also if folks are buying at the price they set then they must have set an okay price. Sure it would be nice if it was cheaper but there's part of the equation you forget. The cost to make. Which Apple considers a trade secret so they aren't going to tell what it is. but I suspect it's a lot higher than folks think
 
Perhaps not the best move

I would be happy to pay the premium if I felt Apple was putting forward the best product they could make at this time. However, it definitely feels like they've held back on both the display and the A5X. With their scale I'd expect both of those to be achievable at the price point. As it stands, I'll wait for the next iteration.

On the 4th gen iPad - I think they'd have been better waiting a bit longer and making a more dramatic change. Looks like we're stuck with the slightly chubbier and heavy form factor for a long time now.

Any thoughts on what this does to the iPad release cycle?
 
If it's no good, don't buy it.

If it's a rip off, don't buy it.

If people buy it, it's not a rip off.

If no one buys it, they will have to lower and reconsider the price point.

If you don't like their product at their price, vote for the competitors' products with your wallet.

This is a free market. :)

I agree, if I dont like the Kindle, Ill return it and re-consider the Mini.
 
How would they price it lower than the iPod Touch? Clearly Apple has a screwed up pricing structure which I think is mostly to blame on the touch. If it were $200 or $250 instead of $300 it would be more in line with pricing on other iPod models and would open up a $250 or $300 price point for the iPad mini.

The problem is people buy them at those price points. And that's probably the "profit maximization" point.

What's the difference between $299 and $329? More psychological. $30 isn't much and if it's too much difference maybe the person is not in the market to afford an iPad (feel free to go buy nexus).
 
I've been trying to figure out what their strategy is and I really think they're trying to duplicate what they did with the iPod.

Back then, they released the iPod Classic first and created a premium market.
Then they released the iPod Mini and created a midrange market.
Eventually they released the shuffle and went after the budget market.

Even though people keep comparing it to the Fire and Nexus 7, the iPad Mini has a midrange price and doesn't compete with $200 budget tablets. I really think they're trying to expand the tablet market by creating a midrange market where none existed. You could even speculate that by calling it an iPad Mini, they were paying homage to the iPod Mini's midrange legacy.

Eventually I think they'll have a $200 budget tablet that'll challenge the Fire/Nook/Nexus (just like how eventually they released the Shuffle to compete with those $40-50 MP3 players), but this isn't it. It's just meant to grow the market.
 
Might see 1 update in its lifetime, has very few apps to choose from that are good, and when you buy the app for that device good luck getting it for your other devices for 'free' too. :p

Nexus devices usually get updates for a while, the Nexus S is still receiving updates and it was released in 2010. Much easier when a device runs stock Android. Also, there are just as many good apps on Android as there are on iOS. Both stores are marred with a plethora of crappy apps though.
 
My opinion is rather the opposite. Apple made it clear that it does not want a race to the bottom with their keynote. Look how well that ended up for the netbook at the time. When everyone was all high on netbook sales down at the bottom Apple was releasing the MacBook Air and everyone cried the same thing.

These will sell like hotcakes at redneck family reunion and will sell millions beyond just the holidays. I say this because Phil is right, it's the cheapest entry level iPad they've released. Many people have screamed they don't want to pay the $500 premium or even $399. $329 is low enough.

And is far as "old technology," it's a fairly weak argument as it's not quite Apple's to Apple's. It's the same technology in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 which are both still being sold. I think the iPad mini looks like a great product, maybe not innovative HW-wise but piggy backing on its own innovation of the tablet (ie iPad market).

But hey, that's just my opinion.

The MacBook Air always felt a bit costly and it badly needs a better screen however net ooks were rather bad, not surprised they are mostly going away and the Air for the most part is in line with other ultrabooks.
 
Stating something they have the numbers to back up is arrogance. okay.

Also if folks are buying at the price they set then they must have set an okay price. Sure it would be nice if it was cheaper but there's part of the equation you forget. The cost to make. Which Apple considers a trade secret so they aren't going to tell what it is. but I suspect it's a lot higher than folks think

You can get close to the price they pay by looking at their financial statements (public information). Just that you get an aggregate number but you can still work it off with some effort.
 
At first, the iPod was very expensive. Won't sell, they said. They sold very, very well, because they were very, very good.
bs. They sold like **** at first , took apple several generations .


The market grew. Well, not to worry, the other music player makers said, we'll fit in underneath that enormous price. Then iTunes came along, and buying music there, and iTunes for Windows, and sales skyrocketed. Then the iPod mini came out, chomp. Harder to get something below now. Then the Shuffle came along. There might have been some things for less than $70, but they weren't iPods. All the iPod-killers crashed and burned. Nobody had iTunes, the iTunes music store, a presence throughout the world, and poof!
more bs mp3 sales are for the most part not tracked, too small a price for most .

Yes there are some numbers from direct store sales but as most other hrands dont have that any comparison is moot .

Yeah, the Fire HD and the Google Nexus are cool, and cheap -- but they're sold at cost. How many countries are they available in? Two? Three? Try using a Fire for much else besides streaming movies from Amazon, buying e-books from Amazon, and so on.

at cost because they have different revenue streams

And that just means they have huge market potential untapped, unlike the ipad l

Apple makes money selling you things. They don't direct ads to you, they don't need to sell you other stuff. Those Apple things get so popular for themselves.

consumer doesnt care its not as if apps or books and movies are for free on the ipad , you pay for content on all of them.


First of all, the iPad mini will be as big a success as the iPod mini/nano -- which sold more than anything else Apple made at the time. You might find other things, a little cheaper. So what? Check out who buys the $199, 8 GB Nexus. Nobody. Everybody buys the $249 16 GB model, which Google makes money on by vectoring in on you with ads and selling your "aggregate data." Okay, but I'm not interested. What's their next model going to be? Will I get a software update when there's a bug? Will Google just lose interest in the tablet if it doesn't sell? I'm losing google.com/ig soon. They just lost interest? Didn't make as much money for them? What about I go to the Google/Amazon store to get a repair? Oh. No stores. No-one to talk to at all. No, I'll give Apple its profit up front, and then I'll ask them not to send me those iAd things -- and they won't.

Not the succes you think it will be, and yes google provides updates . The next rumoeed with user accounts, if they do that i wont be replacing the ipad 1 with a new ipad but with a nexus device , its something apple should have done a long time ago .
 
If I was buying a tablet, there's no way in hell I'd buy the iPad Mini at $329 when I could buy a Kindle HD or Nook HD at $200. Not a chance. That would be giving money away for no good reason whatsoever.

He's making a mistake by assuming that what he could get away with in the past will work now. Hell, if what he's saying is true (it's not), he didn't need to introduce the iPad Mini because he had no need to worry about Kindle, Nook, and Google $200 tablets.
 
Smoke and mirrors. His comment is useless. He's justifying the price saying "The most affordable product we've made so far was $399 and people were choosing that over those devices"

Yes - they were choosing a LARGE iPad at that price.

Now there's competition - significant competition in the SMALLER tablet size marketplace.

Of course they will still sell well. But that doesn't mean his rationale makes any sense.

His point was that given the so-called "significant competition in the SMALLER tablet size marketplace", people have been choosing the *larger*, more expensive iPad. They've been doing so because it's a better *value* than those smaller, cheaper tablets. He believes that the iPad mini keeps that value proposition while directly competing in the size-space.

Personally, from what I've seen and heard about those other tablets, I'm inclined to believe he's right.
 
I would be happy to pay the premium if I felt Apple was putting forward the best product they could make at this time. However, it definitely feels like they've held back on both the display and the A5X. With their scale I'd expect both of those to be achievable at the price point. As it stands, I'll wait for the next iteration.

On the 4th gen iPad - I think they'd have been better waiting a bit longer and making a more dramatic change. Looks like we're stuck with the slightly chubbier and heavy form factor for a long time now.

Any thoughts on what this does to the iPad release cycle?

I think the early release of iPad 4 is to unify the connector technology. It also reset the release cycle to coincide with mac releases.
 
A slight figure of speach stating a killing, they seem to make a good profit even when they hardly do anything, my opinion is mostly based on things I hear, and if Amazon is making profit in content there is no way Apple is not makng a good amount as well. It is Apple after all.
So you have no hard data to support Apple making a good profit in content. You're just basing this on things you hear. OK.
 
And yet LITTLE FOLLOWING . . .

Nexus 7 - higher ppi, NFC, more RAM, quadcore, GPS, $100 less expensive...

Good, get one. I've never understood why people who are "supposedly" passionate about something (a brand, etc.) spend their time strolling through the forums of a brand, product, etc. to say why they DON'T WANT ONE?!? They obviously DO WANT ONE -- but spend their time justifying why they can't GET ONE.

If you own a Chevy, you'll likely stroll through the Chevy forums and perhaps the Cadillac, Jaguar, BMW, etc. forums (products that you WANT to get if you COULD). You're wasting your time strolling through the FORD and DODGE forums just to tell everyone that they suck.

Android (and previously Microsoft) zealots have so much pent up ENVY that they waste their (and OUR) time strolling (ie trolling) MacRUmors.

GET A LIFE! (REALLY!)
 
Apple will hit that lower price point... when they come out with the next gen of the iPad mini... when the next gen comes out, they will prob start selling the 1st gen at $249... they just have to be careful in their pricing model to not to cannibalize their other products (i.e. the iPod Touch)... I'm sure their margins are much better on the Touch than on the iPad Mini.. so they don't want to loose too many of those sales...

Good point, I could see them doing that to get the price down somewhat. That also allows them to move around the iPod Touch prices if possible or if need be.

Of course the iPad Mini will cannibalize some of their other products, but that always happens. Look at the MacBook Air, I won't lie, I did not think that would be as big of a hit as it is.

Plus, the iPhone cannibalizes the iPod Touch more than anything, especially now that they offer older iPhone's for free and for $100 on contract. As the continue to offer the iPhone on additional carriers, this will continue to get worse.

Back to the Mini, if I was in the market for an iPod Touch, I would probably still not be interested in the iPad Mini. From my experience when I was at Best Buy while I was in college, the typical iPod Touch customer fell into one or more of a few categories:

1 - Android User but prefers iTunes/iPod, this also includes customers with T-Mobile, US Cellular, etc that want and iPhone, but it is not available to them through their carrier.
2 - Parent buying their kid an iPod Touch. For ex: my younger cousin was given a "dumb" phone for calls/texts and given an iPod Touch to go with it... Instead of getting an iPhone.
3 - Someone who wants an iPhone, but doesnt want to pay for a data plan, or who doesn't need it. Or they just want an iPod.

Most of them wanted something small and portable still, considering a tablet too large or so it seemed at least. I never had anyone tell me: "I wanted an iPad, but its too expensive so I decided to get an iPod Touch"

Based off that, I do not think it will kill the iPod Touch as bad as some people think it might, but I easily could be wrong. I left Best Buy a year ago as the tablet market was still growing.
 
I don't understand people who are so mad the iPad mini isn't priced at $299... yes I understand you want it to be cheaper but the truth is if $30 is going to make or break your ability to be financially stable then you ought not to be purchasing an iPad, period.

I was out to dinner with some relatives when this topic came up. One relative was complaining about the price being more than the expected $300. I made a similar comment you just did, then offered to pay for dinner if she thought that would help her justify the cost difference.

In the end, she said she would skip a bottle of wine that week, when she gets the new iPad, and paid for dinner. :eek:
 
I agree. There are plenty of options available on the market now. Just go and get a tablet you prefer instead!
Yeah all these people whining about its too expensive. Well don't buy it. It's not like these are must have devices. Buy a Fire or Nexus instead. No one at Apple is stopping you from doing so.
 
His point was that given the so-called "significant competition in the SMALLER tablet size marketplace", people have been choosing the *larger*, more expensive iPad. They've been doing so because it's a better *value* than those smaller, cheaper tablets. He believes that the iPad mini keeps that value proposition while directly competing in the size-space.

Personally, from what I've seen and heard about those other tablets, I'm inclined to believe he's right.


Further, it's a delicate balance between DPI and the size of the device while holding the resolution constant to the multiple of 1024 * 768 for application compatibility across different screen resolutions (regular, and retina, and iPhone).

I wouldn't be surprise to see another iteration of iPad following the 4" iPhone screen years down the road to have something like iPad HD. - for the 16:9 native aspect ratio.
 
I'd gladly pay $350 for a much better product. Sure, it'd be nice if it were a little lower, but I doubt that will make a difference--it'll still outsell every Android tablet
 
Yeah all these people whining about its too expensive. Well don't buy it. It's not like these are must have devices. Buy a Fire or Nexus instead. No one at Apple is stopping you from doing so.

They would be better off too.
 
a show of hands for those that had no problem blowing thru their monthly LTE allotment yesterday to watch the presentation, yet come on hear whining about a $30 overpriced gadget that probably isn't marketed to them to begin with.

i wonder how many on here are pissed that they will not now be able to get an apple product, because they buy every apple product, and are miffed because this isn't marketed necessarily to them.
 
As a consumer in Ireland my only gripe about the price is the conversion rate. $329 should be around €259.

You forget import taxes and VAT/sales tax.

US pricing doesn't include 'sales tax' because each state is different. UK does because it's the same every where. Just on the VAT alone which I recall is about 15% (perhaps more) these days, you are up to €298. Difference of about €40 which could easily be in part those import fees (and yes legally those get passed onto customers) and perhaps some due to the fact that Apple doesn't adjust pricing daily and perhaps the conversion rate was a bit different on the day they set it (I believe they reset it once every quarter)
 
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