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The problem with iPad Mini

It is entirely possible that Apple doesn't release the iPad Mini to the public, at least initially. They already sell an i3 iMac to education facilities for $999. Why not add a low cost iPad? Even if they sold it at cost, the 30% Apple gets off of all the iBooks textbook sales would be a huge profit for years to come. Plus, once schools get hooked into the Apple ecosystem, there will be no turning back...

~JV
 
Southernboyj said:
I'd argue that. The Nexus 7 isn't a cheap device. It is very very solid. I believe iFixit said its hardware cost about $184. They are making razor thin margins, but that is to the benefit of the consumer. And I completely agree.. Apple doesn't *need* to sell an iPad Mini, but they are smart and like to explore every market within their field.


Also, Apple does compete with other companies. iOS devices compete with Android. I shouldn't even have to explain that.. but if you require it, I will.

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My argument does hold. EVERY phone has a very premium price.
There is one reason for this: Carrier subsidies. If you couldn't get an iPhone for $199/$299 and had to pay at least $600 it wouldn't have sold near as well. Every manufacturer does this though, not just Apple.
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I don't think u understand what i'm saying....cheap as in price, not quality. it's only $199. If someone wants an iPad they will go out and buy it. It's not going to be someone on a super cheap budget like $199.

Apple can slap their logo on anything and sell it. If they "compete" with android like you said, they would come out with a $199 iPad mini also. If it's $399, how is that competing? Yes, they aren't competing on price, but isn't that the main attraction of the smaller tablets?

Someone who is looking at cheap tablets isn't going to be looking at apple. Same thing goes for someone on a budget of $500 looking to buy a laptop. They won't be buying an Apple one.
 
takeshi74 said:
'Don't want a 9.7" tablet' would be one reason. Don't just assume that your preferences are universal.
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What market do you think Apple is directing this "iPad Mini" to anyway? What about older people who have trouble reading in the first place? A large screen, like the current iPad works well for them. A smaller screen no matter how fine the resolution may present problems.....just a thought...not everyone is 19 years old with 20/20 vision....
 
s15119 said:
Of course not. It's a rumors site. It's all conjecture.
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The 11 inch Macbook Air is not a conjecture, and even though it's not priced as a netbook, in fact it works as one (better than any netbook if I may say).
And it's been released after SJ said that netbooks were not part of Apple plans.
Never say never with Apple ;)
 
Technically the iPod Touch starts at $199 for the 4th Generation 16GB, which does have a retina screen. If you're budget conscious then that's a good deal and you're probably not going to care that much about what you get at $299 with the 5th Gen Touch.

An iPad Mini could start at $299 for 16GB with a bigger but inferior screen, I don't think there's such a problem with pricing or margins. The iPad Mini screen would probably cost less than the iPod Touch 5th Gen screen! It would have the iPad 2 hardware inside, which is still plenty fast especially driving less pixels.

Don't compare it to the iPod Touch, compare it to the existing iPads. $299 for what is basically a shrunken down $399 iPad 2 feels right to me from both retail and cost perspective.

The iPad Mini was never going to start at $199 anyway, they can sell plenty starting at $299.
 
Southernboyj said:
I agree small businesses won't be using it for awhile.

But off the top of my head, I can name a few that support NFC

McDonalds
Foot Locker
Starbucks
Various gas stations (at least in America)
CVS
Subway
Toys R Us
Radioshack
Macy's
Guess
American Eagle
Jamba Juice
Walgreens
Jack in the Box
I know there are others too.
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I saw an NFC terminal at my local Dairy Queen. The checkout guy noticed me looking at it and he said he'd been working there 6 months. In all that time nobody had ever used it, he didn't even know what it did, and occasionally customers with credit cards would try to find a slot in it to swipe their card.

In summary, NFC is a device that nobody uses, that employees aren't trained on, and that causes confusion for existing customers.

I'm generally positive toward NFC, but man, adoption has a long way to go in the USA.
 
guineapig said:
The 11 inch Macbook Air is not a conjecture, and even though it's not priced as a netbook, in fact it works as one (better than any netbook if I may say).
And it's been released after SJ said that netbooks were not part of Apple plans.
Never say never with Apple ;)
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I've used netbooks and I have used the Air. The Air is no netbook, it's a total different category, frequently called Ultrabooks

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399844,00.asp

Apple has never made a netbook - the clue in your own message is clear :"better than any netbook "
 
s15119 said:
I've used netbooks and I have used the Air. The Air is no netbook, it's a total different category, frequently called Ultrabooks

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399844,00.asp

Apple has never made a netbook - the clue in your own message is clear :"better than any netbook "
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You're right, but at the time of its release, the MBA was marketed as being ultraportable and wireless oriented, much like netbooks.
What set them apart were the specs and the price, and those also gave the MBA a much wider range of usability.
And I think (and hope) that Apple will repeat itself with the iPad mini: same size, more power, more uses than its cheap counterparts already out there.
 
Maybe they will do an 8GB version? They need to compete with the Nexus 7.

iPod Touch is an altogether different device. Some iPhone models are more expensive that some iPad models- so who says they can't overlap?
 
ManicMarc said:
Maybe they will do an 8GB version? They need to compete with the Nexus 7.

iPod Touch is an altogether different device. Some iPhone models are more expensive that some iPad models- so who says they can't overlap?
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As previously stated, iPhone has subsidies that carriers cover to help with its high pricing. Most consumers don't even see that $649 base price.

The highest (and most realistic) price I could see the base model iPad Mini starting at and still succeed is $349.
 
Southernboyj said:
As previously stated, iPhone has subsidies that carriers cover to help with its high pricing. Most consumers don't even see that $649 base price.

The highest (and most realistic) price I could see the base model iPad Mini starting at and still succeed is $349.
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Why can't iPad mini be successful using a subsidized model? If it is subsidized, I can easily see at least a $100 being knocked off your $349 estimate, making it $249. Which means the entry level pricing of $199 is also possible :cool:
 
Southernboyj said:
But still, if they drop the iPad 2 and make the iPad Mini $399.. is it really competing against the Nexus 7/Kindle Fire/Nook? It would literally be double the price.
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You are looking at price only, not anything else.

Gladly pay more for the apple version than the crappy kindle fire I sent back, or the nexus 7 that I dumped on goodwill.
 
guineapig said:
You're right, but at the time of its release, the MBA was marketed as being ultraportable and wireless oriented, much like netbooks.
What set them apart were the specs and the price, and those also gave the MBA a much wider range of usability.
And I think (and hope) that Apple will repeat itself with the iPad mini: same size, more power, more uses than its cheap counterparts already out there.
Click to expand...

I agree - I'd like to see that. I don't think they will, but I hope they do :)
 
racer1441 said:
You are looking at price only, not anything else.

Gladly pay more for the apple version than the crappy kindle fire I sent back, or the nexus 7 that I dumped on goodwill.
Click to expand...

I'll give you the "crappy kindle fire" statement. I don't like heavily skinned Android devices. But the Nexus 7 is extremely capable, it has great build quality and performs well.

It's a subjective response to a subjective statement.

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dchao said:
Why can't iPad mini be successful using a subsidized model? If it is subsidized, I can easily see at least a $100 being knocked off your $349 estimate, making it $249. Which means the entry level pricing of $199 is also possible :cool:
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It could, for the consumer. The probably with this however, is it would then have to also make economical sense for the carriers. Think of this, with the new share everything plans they are forcing down our throats, they charge only $10 to add your tablet onto your plan. If for example the iPad Mini was sold at $349 outright, and $99 subsidized.. The carriers are biting the bullet and taking a $250 loss. It would take the 25 months to just break even... would be a total loss even @ a 2 year agreement. Probably the same reason carriers sell iPad's but don't subsidize them.
 
IMO, the reason why carriers don't want to subsidize iPad today, is that they couldn't figure a way to get a subsidized iPad down below the magic $199 price tag.

If they can find a way to do it with the new iPad mini (like KF HD), every carrier will be jumping on the bandwagon, including some cable companies.

The biggest problem I see, with the iPad mini is that, the mini will compete directly with it's own iPad 3, whereas a locked and subsidized iPad mini will not.
 
Southernboyj said:
I know for months and months there have been so many rumors of the foretold 'iPad Mini'. It seems like it is a definite thing.. there is a problem with it though.

I was almost 100% positive it was coming in October.. that is until the iPhone 5 event. See I believe Apple no longer has a "Go-to-market strategy" to sell the iPad Mini. Here's why:

The iPad Mini rumors really started coming to fruition when the Nexus 7 was so successful. With Apple having the iPad 3 (I know that's not the official name) and iPad 2 priced respectively at $499 and $399 they have the high-end tablet market well covered. So the iPad Mini would be competing with the low-end tablet market (Nexus 7, Kindle Fire, Nook, etc.)


The problem now is not demand, but pricing. What could Apple price this device at? Most people were suggesting as low as $199 (yeah right) upward to $299.

For the device to really sell, it needs to be a maximum of $299 for the base model. Which sounded realistic, but now the BASE 4" iPod Touch is $299.

You honestly think Apple is going to sell a 7.85" iOS device at the exact same price as a 4" device? No. So if this iPad Mini came out, it would be more than $299. I doubt just $50 more either. I'd say a minimum of $100. Making it $399.

Now why buy a $399 7.85" iPad when you can get the iPad 2 (9.7") for the same price, and the flagship iPad 3 for $100 over that.

There is no pricing room for the iPad Mini to succeed with the iPod Touch being priced at $299.

Your opinions?
Click to expand...

My opinion is that it's not about the price at all. Experincing the 7-8 inches iPad would be awesome, since it will be lighter and therefore much easier to carry it. My finger is quite small too, you know :p
 
Johnny Vegas said:
It is entirely possible that Apple doesn't release the iPad Mini to the public, at least initially. They already sell an i3 iMac to education facilities for $999. Why not add a low cost iPad? Even if they sold it at cost, the 30% Apple gets off of all the iBooks textbook sales would be a huge profit for years to come. Plus, once schools get hooked into the Apple ecosystem, there will be no turning back...

~JV
Click to expand...

Not a chance. They need to sell a minimum of 1,000,000 units a week to make it worthwhile to even cone out with a mini. Not going to happen with limited distribution.
 
racer1441 said:
I was 100% the opposite. Found Android to be alright, but the build of the hardware was cheap.
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I will say the build quality wasn't as premium as an iPad. But then again for $199 vs $499 I think it holds up quite nice for its price point. If the Nexus 7 was more expensive, it would probably feel even more premium.

Still at the moment, the only 2 tablets I even consider worthwhile are the iPad and Nexus 7.
 
macnerd93 said:
The iPad mini wont happen, I just don't see the need/point to it
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Well that settles it. I mean, if you see no need for it, why would Apple even consider it.

Probably because there are potential customers (me being one of them) who'd happily pay for a mini at the right price. I'm not buying my teenage daughter a $700 iPad. But I'd think really hard about $199-299 mini. Same for my nephews who are about to graduate. Heck, I'd probably buy one for myself.

There is a market for a $199-$299 7 inch tablet. It's just a question of whether or not Apple wants to be in it. The profit margins will be a lot slimmer than most Apple products. (And based on the pricing of the 5th generation Touch, profits, high margin items are still their focus.) And there is the question of how much it canabalizes the iPad market.

I'm sure they are considering if/how it could fit into their product line. It'll be interesting to see if it comes to fruition.

I'm still thinking they'll throw something out there....with specs just good enough to be a 2nd device/entry level device. Sort of like they realized that selling 8 gig iphones for free/$99 was an easy way to lure in future customers.

People bought those devices...filled them up much quicker than expected and are ready to graduate to a bigger device.
 
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sectime said:
I have a Nexus 7 and an iPad, I disagree with you. The size and weight of the Nexus with IOS would be perfect.
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From a logical perspective I cant see Apple releasing an iPad mini in the foreseeable future. A couple of inches in screen size is hardly going to do anything dramatic size wise, other than having an annoyingly smaller canvas to work with.

Looking from a business perspective Apple may think a small iPad may hinder sales of the iPad 3rd Gen as well, which it most certainly would.

My iPad 2 is just the right size for round Uni, any smaller and it would be annoying. Great for note taking etc.
 
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