Analyst Gene Munster, with Piper Jaffray, believes that Apple’s rumored iPad mini would be priced at $299 with 16 gigabytes of storage, which would sit it right between the 8 gigabyte iPod touch for $199 and the 16 gigabyte iPad 2 for $399. According to Munster, if this is what Apple ends up releasing the company could sell as many as 6 million iPad minis this holiday season.
Munster forecasts the iPad mini taking up 10 percent of existing iPad sales, while also taking away 30 percent of total Android tablet sales in the December quarter.
Assuming the iPad mini actually launches during the holidays, Munster predicts that Apple could sell between 4—6 million smaller iPads in the December quarter. If it’s launched in the fourth quarter, Munster believes the smaller iPad would add revenue of 1 percent in December.
It was previously believed the iPad mini would launch early in 2013, but more recent reports suggest that Apple is planning to launch the smaller iPad by the end of this year. It is expected to feature a 7.85-inch display with a resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels, with the same display technology as the iPhone 3GS.
Munster predicts that Apple will unveil the iPad mini at the same time as the next generation iPhone and believes that the release of a smaller and cheaper iPad will eliminate two of the biggest features for Android tablet makers in price and size. Going forward, Munster thinks Apple will maintain a higher share of the tablet market, and might even increase this share over the next four years.
Source: Apple Insider
Image Credit: OsXDaily
