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The iPad Mini: Apple's Not Competing with Anyone
Yesterday Apple released the much-anticipated iPad Mini, and the company's talking points were clear: They do not consider it a shrunken iPad but instead, a separate device in its own right. It delivers the same amount of pixels (1024×768) as the iPad 2, but in a more portable size, coming in at just under eight inches tall and just over five inches wide.
While everyone knew the smaller tablet was coming, what surprised some analysts was the starting price point of $329. Industry watchers had assumed the iPad Mini's raison d'etre was to wipe out competitors in the small-tablet space, like Amazon's $159 Kindle Fire or Google's $199 Nexus 7.
If Apple had taken the traditional route, where a bunch of marketers determine that competitors are undercutting them on price, they surely could have manufactured a tablet selling for less. But it probably wouldn't have that beveled edge meeting the glass, or the A5 chip, or the 163 ppi screen resolution, or two cameras (including one that shoots 1080p HD video), or it wouldn't have been made with an aluminum unibody and absurdly thin 0.2mm-thick glass, et cetera.
No, the $329 price they've set conveys a clear message: We are not competing with anybody. The company has earned a position where they can pretty much design whatever they want. And those end up being things that consumers want. While competitors envy Apple's financial success and market share—at yesterday's presentation, Tim Cook made the startling announcement that last quarter they sold more iPads than any manufacturer sold PCs—designers have to envy the fortunate circumstances Apple's design department has worked themselves up to.
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This time they are more expensive than anyone else but I'm sure it will look better and feel better than anyone of the cheap Android tablets out there.
What I'd look out for are the windows tablet coming out. I still doubt that Microsoft can do it, but crossing over the tablet/laptop chasm could be a pretty big deal. The iPad is a pain in the ass to do any kind of work on. It's like you're trying to trick it into giving you access to your files and there aren't much decent apps that aren't games/social networking/media consumption. If one could have both their standard computer apps and some touch optimized on one device, I could see a big benefit. With a laptop and a smartphone, I think lots of people don't see the point of a tablet. For people who don't need a lot of power out of a laptop and don't use it that much, I guess they could find a nice balance on something like the Surface. I think they have a great product I just have doubt they'll be able to market it properly.
This was not that day.
See: The Bean Counters Are Back In Charge At Apple
http://www.isights.org/2012/10/the-bean-counters-are-back-at-apple.html
Apple needed to enter this market primarily to keep their existing customers. There is nothing about the specs of the iPad Mini that are earth shattering, but it is a compelling option for those looking to upgrade their iPad or iPad2 but want something smaller.
The Kindle Fire HD is amazing, especially the speakers. However it's variant of the Android OS hobbles it needlessly. The NEXUS is wonderful. Apple loses the spec wars to them. But they always have. They will still win and those who don't understand that the experience is more important than the specs will remain flummoxed. All the better for Apple.
So yeah save yourself a $100 bucks and see what it gets you.
I ride the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan every day, and the iPad is too large to comfortably read with one hand. Reading eBooks on the iPhone is do-able, but a medium sized device would get lots of use by people like me. Also all the bookmarks, apps, info automatically sync to and from my iPhone.
Why do people try to hate so much?
The iPad Mini is priced the way it is to steal a few marginal sales away from the bargain Android tablets, while ensuring that the inevitable cannibalization of the larger iPad line doesn't hurt their bottom line too much, because their building in a massive profit margin. It's a strategic move.
I love this quotation. It's almost word for word what I said about the iPod Mini when it was released. And the iPod Mini went on to become the biggest success in the entire iPod line.
If you've played with any of the 7" tablets, you'll realize that it's a great size for many things. The non-Apple models are garbage, true, but the size lets you do almost everything you want, and it's much lighter weight (I don't like my full-size iPad 3 because its weight hurts my wrist) and it fits in a purse or jacket pocket. My women friends especially really like the size of their 7" android thingies, even though they dislike the software.
The Nexus has 216ppi! For a lot less money. And acutally because of this all their size comparisons in the presentation are total bullshit. A lower screen resolution blown up to a bigger screen won't be a pleasure for your eye. No matter how Apple is trying to twist and turn it.
And if they weren't competing with anyone, why would they talk so long about their competitors and how bad they are? ;)