Someone justify the iPad mini's screen being worse than every competing product

[urkel]

Step back in time. When iPad 1 was a mature rumor, the intelligent guessers here were throwing around entry prices of $699 to $999. When $499 rolled out, the vast majority here were entirely shocked. The word "bargain" was tossed about in good volume.

This mini wouldn't be "bargain bin" at $299, $279, or $249. In fact, it would still be toward the premium pricing end of the 7" mix of tablets. However, breaking $300 would have been a big psychological win.

EXACTLY! Its so sad to see Apple defenders run to the "Apple doesnt do cheap products" excuse without even realizing that Apple has used strategic pricing numerous times in order to dominate a market. The iPad was a "bargain" at $499, the cost of the iPod Mini/Nano was amazing considering the technology at the time and the iPhone subsidized price drops completely disrupted the smartphone industry.

Yet when it comes to the iPad Mini then people act as if $299 is "too little" for Apple to charge despite it having specs from 2 generations ago? We're going to see cost breakdowns soon and Apple will likely maintain their 50%+ profit margins so lets not pretend this is a reasonable price for what we're getting.

(BTW. Im getting one and gladly admit Im a sucker for Apple products. Its the exact product I've been asking for since 2009 so its easily worth it to me)

 

[insoc]

It's never "worse" to have a 35% bigger screen with almost the same resolution being thinner and lighter than the smaller screens.

 

[poloponies]

It's never "worse" to have a 35% bigger screen with almost the same resolution being thinner and lighter than the smaller screens.

I genuinely don't get the squawking about every little detail here. So many people are pissing and moaning about wanting a smaller lighter iPad. Apple does it in spades, nearly half the weight of the full-size iPad, thinner than the iPhone 5 without compromising battery life. Better specs by far than the competition with respect to portability. Yes, they could have gone with a higher-res display and then sacrificed some other features (weigh, thickness and/or battery life) but they erred on the side of portability.

Real simple, it either works for you or it doesn't.

 

[davey1107]

I can justify it!

Easy - budget tablet buyers aren't looking for the latest and greatest display. They want function and value.

Apple dominates the US tablet market...except in the budget segment. Last Christmas 25% of the total market went this way, and Apple had nothing to compete with these cheap tablets. The mini does that. Okay, you don't get the pixel density of the kindle hd whatever, but you get Apple quality, the Apple experience, and Apple Care. That really resonates with consumers in this category. They don't read Wired and visit Macrumors...they step into a store and look for products that fit their budget. This Christmas when they visit the Apple Store there will be something for them - that's a big deal.

The iPad mini is Apple's equivalent to BMW's 3 series. It doesn't offer all the bells and whistles, but it lets a customer get into a premium brand at a very marginal cost difference. History shows that when cost gets close enough, customers will always opt for Nordstrom over Ross, BMW over Ford, Spielberg over Shamylan and Banana Republic over Sears. Apple is betting that approx $130 makes their product as desirable as a Kindle. Only time will tell...should be an interesting Christmas.

But I can say this...I'd rather own a $329 iPad mini to a plastic, cheap $199 android. But then again, I'm not a value shopper, so I'll keep my full size retina ipad and BMW and understand that the iPad mini isn't aimed at me.

 

[newdeal]

...

Most people don't give a **** about screen resolution. I have had every iPad and I honestly don't give a crap about retina on my new ipad. I would actually prefer the ipad 2 because it doesn't take forever to charge, and is thinner and lighter. I am very happy they didn't go retina actually. I am sure they will next year