Since its introduction of the iPad nearly two and a half years ago, Apple has held onto the lion's share of the tablet market. In particular, Apple has managed to hold off all competitors that dared to mimic the 9.7-inch, or 10.1-inch, platform made famous by the iPad. As of Oct. 23, Apple claims to have sold more than 100 million units from its iPad family, with more than 62.5 percent of the total tablets shipped in 2012 (according to IDC).
However, the new threat to Apple's dominance in the tablet space may not come from 9.7-inch and higher models. Surprisingly, Apple faces its largest competition in the tablet space from a form factor that, previously, Apple had not offered -- the 7-inch model (namely, the Amazon Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, and the Google Nexus 7).
With the 7-inch market growing at an exponential rate, it was only a matter of time before Apple would address this product segment. Despite Steve Jobs' protestations that 7-inch tablets were "too big to compete with a smartphone; too small to compete with an iPad," on Oct. 23, Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced Apple's latest device, the iPad Mini.
Featuring a 7.9-inch LCD display with 163 pixels-per-square-inch, the iPad Mini also boasts the use of the same A5 dual-core processor found within the iPad 2, WiFi accessibility, and the availability of an LTE-enabled model.
In terms of its design, the Apple iPad Mini takes advantage of Apple's previous design methodologies to create a product that Apple feels will address the growing consumer demand for 7-inch tablets. The Apple pessimist will point to the iPad Mini as half an iPad 2. But the Apple optimist will call the Mini a supersized iPod Touch. Consumers will decide if the $329 price tag is worth it.
Click on the photo below to check out the guts of Apple's iPad Mini, and then tell us what you think in the comments section below.
Within moments of UBM TechInsights receiving the iPad Mini, the most noticeable quality of it was its thickness and weight.
Weighing in at 0.68 lb, and with a relative thickness of 7.2mm, the iPad Mini is the lightest and thinnest 7-ish inch tablet that we've had a chance to analyze.
Allan Yogasingam is a technical research manager at UBM TechInsights, owned by the same company that publishes Design News and EE Times, UBM plc.
I was surprised to see the cost of the iPad Mini. When it was announced, I admit, I didn't do much research on it or pay too much attention to it, but thought for sure it would be a sub-$200 tablet. As the article states, isn't this supposed to compete with the Kindle Fire or the Google Nexus 7? Am I missing something here?
I have a Kindle Fire and am quite impressed with it. My first-generation iPad - not so much. I can only assume/hope the iPad is leaps and bounds above where it was when it came out.
Jennifer, I agree with you. This device will compete with much less expensive devices. Frankly, the processor that everyone talks about is just an ARM processor. There are lots of ARM products out there that are comparable. To me, Apple talking about the Apple processor is mostly marketing. Any chip vendor will design you precisely the ARM based system you need for the volumes that Apple can commit to.
I know someone who had a Kindle (the last one with a keyboard) and an iPad 2. The iPad was given to him by his university. He sold the iPad. It had lots of glitz, but he really needed something to read his books on. He can read PDFs and can get most, if not all, of his textbooks for the device. It also fits in the back pocket of his jeans. And he is skinny. With the e-ink he can see it anywhere and the battery lasts a long time. With Wi-Fi he can even check his e-mail. To compete, Apple needs to be in this space.
What I also see is that the market is fragmenting. The dream in the industry for at least the last ten years, or so, has been convergence. It is not happening. I saw a guy the other day who had a laptop, a tablet, and a smart phone. I just had to go up to him and ask, "...what happened to convergence?" The Samgung Galaxy Note II has a 5.5" display. This is the space in which convergence will take place.
I've been looking at the Samsung line of smartphones and tablets lately, and think that might be the way to go. It seems to me, as cool as Apple is in my opinion, they seem to be getting a bit too big for their britches. My friend recently pulled out her iPhone 5 and said how great it is. I'm mostly annoyed by the fact that if I go that route, I'll have to find yet another plug for the new charger and also have to get a new case. Is it worth it? I think the Apple Execs are laughing all the way to the bank - at our expense.
I will say, however, that I do my daily work on a MacBook Pro and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My one complaint - I wish it ran Flash!
In the famous Eddy Cue email, it showed Steve Jobs was ok with the 7" tablet behind the curtain.
"Having used a Samsung Galaxy [Tab], I tend to agree with many of the comments below... I believe there will be a 7-inch market and we should do one. I expressed this to Steve several times since Thanksgiving and he seemed very receptive the last time."
That said, I think Apple is trying to say "The 7 inch Android tablet is a good idea, glad we thought of it with the iPad mini." The small form factor is great for casual and on the go usage. However, the iOS is starting to look and operate in a very dated way. No offense to Apple, but their OS works just like my Palm Pilot IIIc with a capacitive screen.
James, I think Apple was too late to introduce the 7 mini version in market. Other competitors Samsung, Amazon, BB etc have both versions of 10 & 7 inches. So they already have a good momentum in sales for 7. From my personal perspective, I feel very much comfortable with my Samsung 7 tablet.
I have serious problems with the way Apple designs their portable projects as non-repairable throw away devices at sky high prices! A heat gun needed to open the case? Seriously? What are the chances you could open it up, replace the battery, and put it back together in reasonable condition?
Apple is obsessed with double sided sticky tape and adhesives. AND to get more storage space, instead of buying a $10 SD card, you must pony up the extra $100+ for the next higher model. Why anyone would pay that much more to get something inferior to its competitors is beyond me!
To quote a favorite movie:
"Mugatu is so hot right now he could take a crap, wrap it in tinfoil, put a couple fish hooks on it and sell it to Queen Elizabeth as earrings. -Maury Ballstein" -Zoolander
As an engineer, that is how I feel about apple products!
I guess what I'm saying is that I expect something at the high end of the price spectrum to not be disposable. I would expect competing off brand products with similar specs that cost ~$99 to be disposable.
I share your opinion about Apple packaging and have said the same thing ever since I saw my first iPhone-1 tear down, circa 2004. Double-side adhesives and (20+) #0 screws, they are a nightmare. Plus, they don't design for even one hard drop on concrete. One slip, and its cracked.
On the contrary, I do admire Apple's ability to keep their secrets. Historically, they do not un-veil new products until the day of availability; a dramatic contrast to other electronics OEMs who think early announcements help test marketability. That backfired on Motorola literally dozens of times.
That reminds me of a recent sales encounter at a cell phone retailer where my wife got her new Iphone. The salesman said, 'you will drop this at some point and it will break, because they always do, so get the insurance'. My wife then asked about insuring my droid phone, he said, 'Those never break, insurance is a rip off for them.'
Edge to edge glass? Yes it looks pretty and passes the asthetics test, but if you ever drop it...
Old Man, thanks for the details. So far I didnt know that Apple products are coming in a sealed condition and we cannot open it. Am using Samsung tab and it can be open with a little effort, I mean they are not taped each other.
As I said before, we are headed for a personal "DoBox" so we need to carry just one thing. It is a phone, camera, computer, GPS, watch, reader, and the hundreds of personal customized apps and software available.
With the high resolution displays, your guess at convergence size is about right. Small can easily become too small and bigger is only so much better and then it becomes cumbersome.
I have to admit I thought Jobs was right: "Too big to compete with a smartphone, too small to compete with an iPad." I was suprised when this form factor posed a threat to Apple's dominance.
The things that he pulled together remain astonishing and have been the subject of design theft and have greatly altered the computing world.
His products are beautiful and to me the mini is even better than the the big pad.
I think that it's a far better package and when the rumored retina mini comes out in several months it will be a stunner.
The mini essentially provides an 8.5 x 11" display and would be great for the school environment including the fact that it can fit in the cargo pockets of some pants.
It is a beautiful reader and clearly shows an awful lot of thought in it's design.
And a special thing is that the i41CX+ will only run on iOS machines. Some of you are too young to appreciate this but HP's 41CX also altered the computing world and this enhanced version is incredible.
That is the tiny machine that we should be using to teach the kids with.
I do think that Apple will be forced to make a iPhone magnum which like the Galaxy III will have Mario sounds and flashing lights and touch transfers. And provide the software to allow the teacher to gather and read the work of all of the students in the class to make sure that they are on point and getting the points.
Steve has brought us a wonderful world and it is interesting to watch people hack at him with vicious personal attacks who by no means have vision as powerful as his remains.
Tim and Johnny are a great team and they should be pushing the education market like crazy and I don't get a sense that they are.
And there are some wonderful apps that they have not yet produced that need to be out there. If they can visualize them then they will remain on top. If not, it'll be like the Old Soldier and just fade awary.
Allan, in information technology week I had read an article about IPad mini. They had peeled the device and had analyzed each part by part with quality and cost wise. So finally they made a remark that the actual cot to cost of IPad mini comes less than $250. Have you come across such cost to cost calculations.
While the larger iPad could boast of a sharper display than its competitors, the smaller one has much stiffer competition with clearer displays and 60% of the cost. And Steve Jobs "vision" is correct in that many phones have screen sizes that are close enough to the mini so that having one is redundant.
Sadly, few people really research before spending their hard-earned money. Both the iPad mini and iPhone are well behind, technology-wise, yet command much higher profit margins than their competitors. Mercedes was in the same position, many years ago, before Lexus came to be.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
6 
