the iPadMini margins are so horrible they don't want you to buy the Mini unless absolutely necessary. Apple is obviously steering people to either the Air or Plus
Then Apple needs to shit can the mini. Or focus more on great products than gross margins.
Not steer. Apple want to phase out the Mini eventually, so they won't bother to upgrade it. They will test drive the Mini 3 for another year and if sale is not great, no more Mini.
I personally think the Mini has been useless and now with 6+, it's going no where but dead end.
Of course sales aren't going to be great when it gets a lame update. But if Apple wants poor sales so they can kill the product then I guess this is the way to do it.
I agree with your conclusion, but what's "the air gap"?
Update: if you're referring to whether the LCD is laminated to the glass, then according to the hands-on article just posted, the mini 3 does eliminate that. But perhaps they eliminated it for the mini 2 as well since the on-line comparison shows no difference.
I'll be curious to know which is correct. Schiller spent next to no time on the retina mini (just like last year) so it's hard to know what besides Touch ID is different.
My prediction was that the Mini wouldn't get refreshed...almost correct...Touch ID for $100? This's lame. Anyway, I think Apple will let iPad Mini to phase out slowly by not upgrading it. It's strange to me that they keep the Mini 1 at $249 while Retina Mini is $299 with a lot better specs (CPU, screen camera...). Unless one is stupid enough not to realize, there's no reason to buy the Mini 1.
They keep the first mini to make the second mini look like a great deal at $299. Just like the mini 3 exists so people buy the much better Air for "only $100 more". I think it's BS but clearly the bean counters at Apple don't.
Of course sales aren't going to be great when it gets a lame update. But if Apple wants poor sales so they can kill the product then I guess this is the way to do it.
Agreed. Not sure why they called it a "3", when it should have been a "2S" at the most. Or they shouldn't have even mentioned it.
Maybe they want two distinct categories, Air and the "lowly" mini.
Oh well, Apple is a company that is hard to figure out sometimes. Just like what seems like two steps back on the Mac mini. Maybe they just want to sell MacBooks and not Mac minis.
Of course sales aren't going to be great when it gets a lame update. But if Apple wants poor sales so they can kill the product then I guess this is the way to do it.
Here is an altered version of previous theory: Apple makes good margin off the Air / now Air 2. Makes good margin off of the phone and laptops.
Since iPads can be seen as a replacement for a second computer in the home, it seems they don't want this lower margin Mini 3 cutting into its high margin products. They specifically don't want the mini 3 cutting into the Air/Air 2 margins.
So why sell the Mini/Mini 2 cheap? Probably for 2 reasons:
1) Apple has no choice - if they don't sell a cheaper and smaller iPad, someone will buy an Android device, because they just want the web and reading books. Apple saw its share go down this summer and lowered iPad mini prices through some resellers - we picked one up for $199. $299/$399 was too high for a mini.
2) the minis have been out for awhile and they have economy of scale on the cheaper minis (with rather inferior screens).
Just a theory.
So it seems the free market is working and Apple is aware of it.
There is also a lot of price pressure from Chromebooks. And at Christmas, there will be super cheap Windows machines.
(Yes, realize its apples and oranges on different types of devices, however for a second or third device, users may pick a Chromebook over and iPad for the family/household. Or a (shudder) Windows machine. Or an Android tablet. So a family/someone already has a PC/Mac desktop or laptop. They have a smartphone. They have an older iPad. Why not get a Chromebook? or a cheap Windows machine that is as cheap as or cheaper than an iPad.
The iPad is in that low-margin area, cost-wise. Your choice of an Air2 for $699 compared to a Windows PC for your kid. A lot of people are going with the PC.
iPad is seen as a luxury for a lot of people. After their phones and their computers.
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I'll be curious to know which is correct. Schiller spent next to no time on the retina mini (just like last year) so it's hard to know what besides Touch ID is different.
but will it bend? that is the question!
They keep the first mini to make the second mini look like a great deal at $299. Just like the mini 3 exists so people buy the much better Air for "only $100 more". I think it's BS but clearly the bean counters at Apple don't.
Of course sales aren't going to be great when it gets a lame update. But if Apple wants poor sales so they can kill the product then I guess this is the way to do it.
Agreed. Not sure why they called it a "3", when it should have been a "2S" at the most. Or they shouldn't have even mentioned it.
Maybe they want two distinct categories, Air and the "lowly" mini.
Oh well, Apple is a company that is hard to figure out sometimes. Just like what seems like two steps back on the Mac mini. Maybe they just want to sell MacBooks and not Mac minis.
Of course sales aren't going to be great when it gets a lame update. But if Apple wants poor sales so they can kill the product then I guess this is the way to do it.
Here is an altered version of previous theory: Apple makes good margin off the Air / now Air 2. Makes good margin off of the phone and laptops.
Since iPads can be seen as a replacement for a second computer in the home, it seems they don't want this lower margin Mini 3 cutting into its high margin products. They specifically don't want the mini 3 cutting into the Air/Air 2 margins.
So why sell the Mini/Mini 2 cheap? Probably for 2 reasons:
1) Apple has no choice - if they don't sell a cheaper and smaller iPad, someone will buy an Android device, because they just want the web and reading books. Apple saw its share go down this summer and lowered iPad mini prices through some resellers - we picked one up for $199. $299/$399 was too high for a mini.
2) the minis have been out for awhile and they have economy of scale on the cheaper minis (with rather inferior screens).
Just a theory.
So it seems the free market is working and Apple is aware of it.
There is also a lot of price pressure from Chromebooks. And at Christmas, there will be super cheap Windows machines.
(Yes, realize its apples and oranges on different types of devices, however for a second or third device, users may pick a Chromebook over and iPad for the family/household. Or a (shudder) Windows machine. Or an Android tablet. So a family/someone already has a PC/Mac desktop or laptop. They have a smartphone. They have an older iPad. Why not get a Chromebook? or a cheap Windows machine that is as cheap as or cheaper than an iPad.
The iPad is in that low-margin area, cost-wise. Your choice of an Air2 for $699 compared to a Windows PC for your kid. A lot of people are going with the PC.
iPad is seen as a luxury for a lot of people. After their phones and their computers.