Apple presents the iPad mini

Yesterday, as I am sure you have already heard, Apple released the iPad mini. Before I establish an opinion on these product releases based on what everyone else has to say I go straight to the Apple website and watch the clip explaining the new product. Then you can go ahead and read what everyone else has to say. Here is the clip so you can watch it before you read what I have to say. iPad mini overview.


As you can see the product looks amazing. That is to be expected from Apple these days and always. The biggest difference is of course the size which makes it more portable. It also becomes a direct competitor to some of the smaller tablets like the Kindle fire, Google's Nexus 7 and Samsung Tab 7.7. The biggest question to be answered from this release was pricing. Because the tablet is smaller and supposedly cheaper it should be more accessible to poorer developing markets where Apple products are often too expensive.


The price starts at $329 for a 16GB which is still well above its competitors. Apple is still very confident it can ask a premium for its products and in fact the margin per unit of the mini will be higher than the third generation iPad it released 7 months ago. I agree. The brand quality, access to the best and most established app store, iTunes and all things that have made Apple products so successful just in a smaller package and slightly cheaper.

Was the release a disappointment? For some I guess the answer is yes. For most this was expected. There are always high expectations when Apple release products and in my humble opinion the only releases that will really excite the market are the ones where a brand new product is introduced. Like the iPhone or the iPad or way back when the iPod was first released. But don't forget, there were lots of different versions of the iPod with different sizes and features for different preferences.


That is what is happening here. Yes there will be cannibalization with the mini stealing sales from the iPad 2 which is still being sold at a lower price, the third generation iPad and now the 4th generation iPad which is the same as the third but with a faster chip (also announced yesterday). But like the iPod these are just appealing to different preferences so I wouldn't make such a big deal of it.


From an investors point of view I like the product. I like that the margins are strong and I feel people will still be willing to pay the Apple premium. Like all the Apple nerds out there I still wait in anticipation for a brand new Apple product release but please don't think that this has been a quiet year for Apple. 2 new operating systems, iPad mini, new iPod nano and iPod touch, iPhone 5, several new MacBooks (also announced yesterday) and the 3rd and 4th generation iPads. Results are released tomorrow night which we will cover on Friday.