With the iPhone 5 roadshow now out of the way, it’s time to focus on the announcement and subsequent release of the iPad Mini. We know it’s coming, even though Apple hasn’t yet confirmed it’s even working on a smaller tablet, and thanks to a series of leaks, we know what to expect from the iPad Mini. We don’t yet know the price, but I can guarantee that 1. it’ll be expensive, and 2. it will still sell like the proverbial hotcakes.
The iPhone 5 went on sale today in many countries, and what a bitter disappointment that product is. An incremental update with a slightly bigger screen apparently passes for innovation at Apple these days. Not that it matters, as thousands of people queued for hours in order to get their hands on one of these lackluster new handsets. Proving the cult of Apple is still alive and well.
This legion of fans, who I like to refer to as iSheep, stand Apple in good stead for its next big launch. At some point in October Apple will reveal the iPad Mini, a smaller version of the iPad boasting a 7-85-inch screen. The specs are likely to be just below that of the full-sized iPad, mainly to keep costs down.
However, the iPad Mini is still expected to sell for somewhere between $299 and $399. Apple cannot legitimately go lower than $299 when the 4-inch iPod Touch resides at that price point. $349 would seem to be the logical conclusion to be drawn. This would make the iPad Mini $150 more than either the Google Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD.