Whether the deliberate intention of Apple or perhaps a simple case of consumer distraction, rumors of an iPad Mini arriving before the end of the year seem to have slowed to a trickle at best. Curious enough at any point in time, but given the fact that the affordable tablet PC marketplace is garnering more attention than ever before, what is Apple waiting for?
Well, contrary to popular belief there are in fact one or two very good reasons why Apple may be delaying the decision to launch an iPad Mini, or have perhaps put the notion on ice indefinitely. Yes, an affordable iPad for $250 or under would sell like the proverbial hot cakes, but its impact would not be anything close to one sided by any means.
Allow me to explain…
Pricing Problems
First and foremost, perhaps the only way an iPad Mini could prove tp be an unstoppable success would be to offer it for around the $200 mark – directly competing with the Amazon Kindle Fire and the as-yet unannounced Google Nexus Tablet. This poses a couple of very real problems in an instant, the first of which being the impact on the existing iPad and iPod Touch lines.
Such a pricing structure would make each and every iPad 2 and new iPad at least double the price of the iPad Mini, while the upper-end models of the iPad Touch range would also be considerably more costly. Given the fact that the iPad Mini could in all probability deliver the best of both worlds, the impact on sales of Apple’s existing lines could be less than desirable to say the least.
A Step in the Wrong Direction
Another problem with achieving such a price tag is the way in which Apple would have to afford the iPad Mini considerably more affordable hardware than that which graces the iPad and the iPhone 4/4S. Not a huge problem, but if there is one thing Apple never has done and never will do it is to take a huge step backwards and offer something with less prowess than its predecessors. The world is so head over heels in love with Siri, Apple’s Retina displays and the thought of a revolutionary new iMaps system that to serve up a mediocre mid-range device would likely curry little favor.
Fear of Fragmentation
Next comes the fact that Apple executives from the late Steve Jobs to current CEO Tim Cook and plenty of others besides have always thrown out any suggestions of a device with a screen size that could potentially fragment the iOS experience. Apple has consistently spoken with disdain for Android’s insistency on offering up a thousand and one slightly different products and user-experiences, rather than the single unified ecosystem offered by iOS. An iPad Min with a mid-sized screen would be a huge step toward exactly what they have long criticized Android for.
No Vacancies
Last but not least, the WWDC 2012 event in San Francisco brought us a new 2012 MacBook Pro range, late summer could well deliver an new 3G iPod Touch and the fall/holiday buying season has been set aside for the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 – so where on Earth would an iPad Mini fit in?
It wouldn’t, and the therefore won’t!
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