iPad Mini price, release date to be announced this month (rumors)
October 12, 2012, 2:45 P.M., Friday, New York local time — Apple iPad Mini rumors hit the “red” alert today, All Things D, Apple’s favorite blog site, has confirmed that the smaller iPad is headed this month and will start shipping next month.
The timing is unsurprising given the recent press releases favoring the Windows 8 operating system, Apple, the maker of the “PC killer,” the Apple iPad, is on the verge of adding yet another version this month — the iPad Mini. As reported by Apple’s favorite news outlet, All Things D, the device is on set to hit the stage later this month, specifically on October 23.
Unlike current iPads, the iPad Mini will reportedly sport a smaller 7.85-inch display. The smaller iPad is, obviously, Apple’s device that will compete with Google’s popular Nexus 7 Android tablet and Amazon’s Kindle Fire lineup. The iPad Mini is set to join the lower price tag category.
Analysts say the iPad Mini will likely sport a $249 to $299 price tag, cheaper than the traditional $499 entry-level 16GB models of older variants. Similar to previous Apple events, Apple’s iPad Mini will hit the market in November.
Apple is currently enjoying a major tablet PC market share, more than 70% according to latest channel checks while Android maintains its second place-only numbers and Microsoft with no “real tablet” market share as of the moment.
The iPad Mini, apart from securing Apple’s large tablet PC market share, is reportedly trying to lure customers away from Microsoft’s Windows 8 lineup which will fully support tablet PCs and hybrids (laptops with touch displays).
According to Business Insider, the iPad Mini will “embarrass” the Microsoft Surface, the software giant’s first tablet computer product that will run its latest operating system. Cupertino will announce the iPad Mini just three days before the Microsoft Surface event, and for the critic, putting the price tag of the iPad Mini on the board ahead of Microsoft, even if Microsoft changes the prices for the Surface, is a scenario that is “going to make Microsoft look pretty silly.”
Can the iPad Mini, with a cheaper price, sweet pre-Thanksgiving release date, and smaller display, outsell the bigger iPads and its rivals?
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