Chad Henage of The Motley Fool says he thinks the iPad mini will see the light of day, but it will cast a long shadow over the iPod touch.
Heange:
Some estimates say Apple could sell as many as 35 million of these new tablets (iPad mini) at $299 in 2013, though some cannibalization of the 10 inch iPads would definitely occur. There’s one big problem with Apple producing a 7 to 8 inch tablet, and that is the price point that the company already sells the iPod touch at.
Henage says that considering the two main competitors in the “mini” tablet space would be Amazon’s Kindle Fire ($199), and the Google Nexus 7 ($199), the new Apple tablet pricing would have to fall somewhere in that neighborhood. With existing iPod touch models beginning at $199, he believes the device will suffer.
Henage: “You can see from the chart, that for Apple to produce an iPad Mini, the company would have to come up with a device that fits right in between the iPod touch and the iPad’s current dimensions. The real challenge is less with the dimensions and more with the pricing.”
The price points for the iPod touch start at $199, while the iPad 2 is $399, the sweet sport for a “mini” would be between the two, likely with at least 16 GB of memory. Pricing of $249 would match the Nexus 7’s 16 GB model.
Hange says, “Given the fact that the iPod touch is essentially an iPhone without the telephone capabilities, it seems an iPad Mini would represent a better value for iPod touch buyers.”
His view is that in the same way the iPod touch took the market share of the click-wheel iPods, it’s possible that the iPad mini, if it is brought to market, could kill off the touch.
Interesting suppositions. I’m not sure I’d go along with them. Just as the iPod Classic has hung in there against the iPod touch, so could the iPod touch keep swinging against the “mini”
What do you think, oh observant and opinionated reader? Is there room for the iPod touch and the iPad mini, if the mini comes to market? Sound off in the comments section below.