Rumor: 'iPad mini' manufacture to hit 4M units per month in September ahead of October launch

DigiTimes..... STOP THE PRESSES!

Microsoft might as well kiss the Surface goodbye, if Apple will be flogging the mini iPad at like $200 ish per unit... MS is phucked 

 

edit---

 

They can burry it in the ground "Next of Kin"

I doubt the price would be $200ish per unit. I would expect $299' with a long outside chance of $249 for the base model.

Priced identically to the Touch and now, we're told, plans to produce 4M units a month. This just gets curiouser and curiouser.

Obviously I have no inside info but it just doesn't add up. The rumours are making less and less sense, raising doubts about the very existence of the iPad Mini.

$299 and $399, replacing the iPad 2 in the lineup.

 

Agreed. US$299 will bridge the gap between the new "taller" iPod touch ~US$200 and the ipad 2 ~US$450

 

 

Edited by Dunks - 8/20/12 at 9:27pm

 

I'm betting on it starting at $199 and the iPod Touch is toast. No sense upgrading the Touch to the new 18-pin connector.

I have no idea how they would price this Mini if it exists, but I think they would sell tons of them if it starts at $299 or lower and looks like the mock-up...

Agreed. Who can look at that mockup and think that's not a good idea?

$200- ill take 2. $299- ill take 1. $249- ill be confused. :-)

I also wouldn't be shocked to see something like a $229 or $269 tag.

The thing that is foolish is speculating on what it will look like. It is fairly obvious it will look like a tablet, details aren't of importance, the trick is that it supports iOS and runs apps with a minimal of fuss.

As to the ramp up to four million a month that won't be nearly enough. It is very likely it will sell as good or better than the current iPad. It might not be my personal desire but such a tablet would be a big win at work. In fact I can see it becoming a go to solution for many business needs.

 

The details determine whether the thing is usable.

Pricing will be extremely interesting, I strongly suspect Apple will exploit lower cost manufacturing methods including a polymer shell. Or possibly an injection molded shell of some alloy. The big problem with a device this size is that you need transparent material for all the radio waves the device is likely to use.

Speaking of which it does make you wonder if this will be a WiFi only device to again control costs and minimize inventory issues. I could see them doing this but at the same time it would take many potential customers out of the picture. A key feature of my iPad 3 is that cellular access, without which I don't see the unit being as useful.

It is a tablet, that implies a flat piece of glass in a thin enclosure. Everybody seems to expect massive changes from that formula but really would it be a tablet if that happened?

There are rumors floating around that Apple is working on an iOS based camera. I have to say good for them, but even if it is iOS based it will no longer be a tablet! A different use requires a different formula thus if Apple is to market a Mini iPad it will follow the formula for a tablet.

The pictured form factor with the narrow bevel on the sides… at first that didn't make sense to me, thinking we need more space for our thumbs… on the 10" iPad, this is true. But on a smaller, MUCH lighter model, we might actually hold it more often using only the bottom bezel rather than the side, and if held at the side it would need less "grip" from a full thumb contact...

 

So, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes...

 

 

$199 would be a stretch is this is an iPad. If this were a big iPod than $199 would be the perfect price.

 

Anyway when/if an iPad Mini does come out I wonder if Apple will just keep the current Touch around, not upgrade it, and price it at $99? That could help drive up iPod sales? Even if the Touch does get upgraded the pricing would have to stay lower to make room for this new  iPad.

I think they would keep the Touch available, even if the price overlap with an iPad Mini makes it look like a bad value to many. I work in a middle school, and for the kids who do not have a smartphone, it is an excellent form factor. Big enough for games but small enough for a pocket. If sales tank completely, of course, they could always let it go, but I believe it would still serve a purpose...

I think you nailed the Touch vs Mini issue.  Isn't this about form factor and not price?  I have an iPhone and Kindle Fire.  The iPhone is with me all the time.  The fire is used when I want to read.  The Touch has it's own niche and I hope they keep it around for that niche.  For myself, I can't wait to get rid of the Fire and replace it with a Mini.

How sweet would it be if this shipped before Windows RT tablets?

If they could find a way to sell it with retina display for $299 and $399 I'd say game over for Nexus and Windows RT. if it doesn't have retina display it will need something else to lure people away from the $199 price point. Is iOS enough to do that?

Yep. I don't see any less than $249 minimum and probably $299.

Not a chance. The iPod Touch is an important part of the lineup. I expect the iPod Touch to change to a slightly larger screen if the iPhone does, though.

Details are extremely important. Where have you been for the past 10 years? Apple's success is largely due to sweating the details.

An iPad Mini will take all of its design cues from the iPad 3. There's no way it would look significantly different. The message is clearly "all the iPad goodness in a smaller size".

Cheap plastic? No way. They're not going to bastardize the iPad image. It will be constructed just like the iPad 3.

I can see an 8GB iPad mini for $249 a 16GB @ $299 and a 32GB @ $399 to go head to head with Nexus and Windows RT.  With a rumored Oct. 26 release date for the Microsoft Surface RT tablet, and price points starting at $199, the iPad mini at $249 makes sense and is competitive.  Hopefully, Apple's confirms rumor and announces before Oct. 26. 

 

Regards,

 

RIP...

I have grave concerns for the post-Jobs Apple.

Jobs's passion and Apple's success has been largely a result of putting the user experience first and foremost. To this end, Jobs argued strongly that the 10" form factor was the right size and that anything less was a significant compromise for the user experience, a position with which I concur.

A 7" tablet could only work if it had a retina display with a similar DPI to the larger 10" iPad, but that seems extremely unlikely because it would introduce a third new resolution that would not be a simple factor of the iPad 2's resolution, making things extremely difficult for Apple and developers. The iPad 2's resolution would not be of retina quality even if it was compressed to a 7" display. I'm sure someone can do the DPI calculation but I can't right now (it's 3 AM!).

So a smaller tablet with an only marginally better DPI than the iPad 2 is a step backwards in terms of the end user experience. The new iPad has sold incredibly well despite a massive number imitators and smaller tablets trying to carve out their own niche.

Jobs hired Cook because of his business prowess and knowledge and it worked for Apple so long as Jobs was still overseeing Apple's direction and product releases. Now it seems that Cook is trying to make what appear to be good business decisions without an understanding of what really drives success for a company. We've seen a number of concerning turn of events since Jobs's passing that lead me to believe that Cook just doesn't get it. His Keynote performances make me think I'm watching a Microsoft presentation.

I miss Steve.

 

As do I, strongly, but it has also been said by Apple leadership themselves, in court, that Jobs was receptive to a 7" screen. Note that Steve Jobs is not CC'd on the e-mail in question, despite being alive at the time. Note that we know nothing further about this than that one e-mail.

 

 

I'm to understand that 1024x768 on a 7.85" screen is 'retina', or so they say. The PPI for that is 163.06.

 

 

Once again, agreed completely. I fear, however, that Apple doesn't, despite them obviously knowing their iPad holds 95% of the market of tablets actually being used and that all 7" tablets and ALL other sizes of other tablets from ALL other manufacturers only have the remaining 5%.

 

 

I'm not sure about that. Cook is doing a pretty good job staying Steve's course. It's his hires that seem to be causing trouble, and it's his (so far slight) unwillingness to punch through potentially bad ideas put up by his other executives (like Cue) that might be a problem.

 

He's not a presenter, he's a doer. I don't imagine he'll be highlighting many more keynotes. That's not his bag in the first place, and as right it shouldn't be. I was happy to see, though, that in his first keynote (iPhone 4S) he really gave off the feeling that he wanted the Mac's marketshare to greatly expand.

That is, of course, a horribly distorted 'statistic'.

Apple has roughly 2/3 of the total tablet market by most measurements. While it is true that iPads tend to get more usage than other tablets, your assumption implies that they are not used at all - which is clearly false. It is more likely that almost all tablets ever sold have received at least a minimal amount of use (with iPads getting a great deal of use). So, Apple's share is about 2/3 of all tablets being used. iOW, the non-Apple market is about 1/2 of the iPad market - which is many millions of units per year. Since Apple's iPad Mini would be greatly superior to the competitive products in a number of respects, it is not unreasonable to expect Apple to get a significant portion of that. In fact, logically, if Apple has 80% of the 10% tablet market, it's not unreasonable to think they'd also get 80% of the 7" tablet market - which would bring them from 67% market share to 94% market share - a significant increase (I suspect however, that the actual number would be somewhat lower).

Again, I can't help but be amazed at how quick you are to discard any idea for a product that's not in the current Apple lineup.


I'm curious how you expect him to do that when you're so quick to dismiss any new product that anyone suggests.

 

I'm curious what this has to do with anything, particularly since it's a lie.

I'm voting for $279. It's more than the Nexus -- Apple = premium image to keep up. $299 could certainly work but it may be too much to have people really feel like they are getting a deal... opps, Apple = premium so they could care less about a deal.

 

How about $279 (12% above Nexus)... $299 (20% above the Nexus). Either way, this will be a big winner... I'm still hoping for $279. Is my logic flawed?

I strongly agree. Apple has been working hard on the Macbook Pro's/Airs and the iPhone, and Prior to that they were working on the iPad 3 and Apple TV, There is little chance of actually developing an iPad Mini considering Jony Ive and his team design everything from scratch, and then the hardware team design the components for the inside. It would take atleast 5 months to design an iPad Mini, and another 3 months for iOS to be built on it. I'm saying this because it took 7 months after the iPhone 4S to design the new iPad and Production was " were making this as fast as we're selling them" According to Tim Cook on a Quarter Report. What Apple would do is let iPad 3 Sales continue until next years update and upgrade their iPad to a better iPad... ( thinner glass, singlecell multitouch retina display, stronger battery, etc) And I've only heard of prototype devices of an iPod Touch 5,1 and the iPhone 5,1, 5,2 to add to my point. ( the one that circulated with glass and metal on the back ws 5,1, and a wider and longer iPhone was also made, but the screen was inoperable with one hand so they said to use the one with the 640x1136 display) Tim Cook also stated at AllThingsD that they only make the best products in the world... so I don't really think an iPad Mini will come out, even if the people think it is.... However I do see Apple reinventing the TV because people want them to.

 

In my view, Apple has only been working on the new iPhone since WWDC because that's what was at WDC, iOS 6. We should be thankful because Tim Cook has been making Apple work their ass off harder than Steve Jobs would of made them in this one year. It shows that Steve's DNA is truely in Apple and they will continue to bring out the best products.

Yes it is more than enough. I might add that app store is a huge feature here that continues to drive iPad sales and would also drive Mini sales.

As for retina screen, it doesn't have to be retina per say. The smaller screen will means higher pixel density even if it it isn't retina. The assumption being the same pixel count as iPad 2.

Look at it this way Touch is still a huge seller for Apple and it is nearly at the same price point as some of the 7" screens. It is all about being fit for a particular use.

 

I don't really see Apple having some products using the old dock connector and others using the new. I expect any remaining devices to be moved to the new connector as soon as upgrade cycles allow. That said, the one device we know isn't ever going to see an upgrade is the iPod classic. So I epxect the classic to be discontinued and the iPod touch to take it's place has the only high-capacity iPod. It will get either a price drop and/or capacity bump. But even with a price drop, look at the current ranges of iPod touch prices. There is no way an iPad mini would be $199 and encroach that far into the iPod touch price range.

 

Apple dropped the numerical designation on iPad models for a reason. They aren't going to be needed anymore because the low-end vs high-end iPads aren't going to be last year's model vs this years model anymore. They are going to be differentiated by two different sizes, just like the rest of Apple's computers. The iPad mini will replace the iPad 2.

I tend to agree and that is why I think this September product release will be huge.    Expect not just a new iPhone and Mini iPad but a totally redone iPod lineup, new accessories and a bunch of other goodies.   Yes even iPod Classic will be deleted.

 

The big issue with Touch is the cost as it will need a substantial increase in flash storage to take the place of the classic.   This likely isn't a huge issue but pricing and positioning might be come a problem.

 

The only thing I'm not really sure about is the iPad 2, it is still very popular and a Mini iPad isn't a good replacement for it.   I could see iPad 2 staying around for a long time as a base full size iPad with the current iPad getting far more powerful each year.   Plus the longer iPad 2 stays in production the more pricing flexibility Apple has with it.   By the way I have this feeling that the original sized iPhone will stay around for a long time too, with Apple effectively marketing two phone form factors at the same time.

 

You believe it and I believe it and because we both still believe it and have for years, they'll keep it around for another year. Or three.

It is getting confusing. The iPad 2 is the perfect education device. Inexpensive yet powerful and large enough screen to be well suited to mass purchase by school districts. The smaller form factor is not very well suited for education. An argument could be made that the iPad 3 will be the new education model once the iPad 4 comes out but the retina screen is still overkill for k-12 education price performance ratios.

Probably.

 

Killed the 17" MacBook Pro before the iPod classic…

That says something, I know it does. Just can't figure out what.

It says to me that the sales of the 17" where pathetic.

One issue with the iPod classic is that a lot of professionals still use it. While limited for some needs it has enough capacity to carry a lot of raw music around. So while it doesn't sell like Touch it does have a niche that nothing else from Apple fills right now.

It is funny because the Classic has been Semi dead for some time. It hasn't been updated in awhile and Apple ignored advances in miniature disk tech for the device so storage capacity has been stagnet. Classic has sort of become the truck of the music player industry.

Even with all of that I'd be shocked if Classic survives this fall. Double or triple Touches memory capacity and the reasons for the Classic drift away.

If they double or triple the memory of a Touch, there's no way they can sell it for anywhere near the price of a Classic ($249 for 160 GB).

I obviously can't guarantee how long they'll keep the Classic, but the Touch is a long way from replacing it for some users.

Apple stores told to triple space for iPad's for Sept. 12th.

 

I presume iPad mini coming soon.