iPad Mini Cannibalizing Retina iPad, iPad 2 Market Share March 1, 2013iPadOff

Article by: Kevin Go – Despite Apple’s shrinking share in the tablet computing market, it appears that the Cupertino company still leads when it comes to display panel production of tablet computers.

Several reports have already highlighted the decrease in production of 9.7-inch panes for Apple’s full-sized iPad slate by a staggering 90 per cent since the introduction of the 7.9-inch iPad Mini, citing numerous sources, shipments of 9.7-inch panels [used on the original iPad] back in December of 2013 amounted to 7.4 million, now, only 1.3 million panels were shipped in January of this year, unsurprisingly, the drop in 9.7-inch display shipments is inversely proportional to that of 7.9-inch panels since production of the small-ish displays has reportedly rose to a staggering 5 million units.

In short, the new iPad Mini is cannibalizing sales of the Retina iPad 3 and iPad 4 — and a Retina iPad Mini 2, reportedly in the works already, is on the verge of eating the market share of traditional iPads with 9.7-inch display.

This is mainly the result of the iPad Mini’s slightly cheaper price tag, not to mention its ongoing ‘novelty factor’ for being a relatively new product from Apple. But here’s the catch, even the cheaper iPad 2 is no match and also been affected by the sudden market share growth of the iPad Mini according to NPD.

iPad Mini vs Retina iPad 4 from YouTube:

There’s no denying that the demand for 7 to 8-inch tablets is growing immensely, as a matter of fact, this growth is what prompted Apple to launch the iPad Mini, Samsung’s launch of the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean-powered Galaxy Note 8.0, too, should be treated as another indication of this segment’s apparent growth.

Priced at $329 (for the entry-level ‘WiFi Only’ model), the iPad Mini is certainly more expensive than its 7-inch Android-powered counterparts that boast fast quad-core processors, larger RAM sizes and high-definition displays, its two years-old innards is a bit of a downer too — but — do take into account that the extra price you pay for an iPad Mini does equate to a better overall fit and finish, its solid aluminum-clad body evokes a solid ‘feel’ when held in hand compared to Android competitors with plasticky finish. Source.

 

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• iPad Mini Cannibalizing Retina iPad, iPad 2 Market ShareMarch 1st, 2013

• iPad Mini 2 rumors: A More-Than Retina Display TippedMarch 1st, 2013