Apple introduced the slimmed-down iPad mini tablet -- with a
7.9-inch screen, it can be held in one hand -- starting at $329, which will eat
into sales of its higher-priced, 9.7-inch models but give the company a more
competitive offering against rivals, according to industry analysts.
"Yes, this will cannibalize some of the iPad, but pull the
camera back and you can see how it will increase the size of the Apple customer
base," independent telecom analyst Jeff Kagan said. "Those customers will get
sucked into the Apple cloud and start buying other devices to share their
stuff."
Apple is expected to cut the price of the first-generation
iPad mini to $200 in the fall of 2013, which would force some tablet
competitors to exit the market, according to Julien Blin, directing analyst for
consumer electronics and mobile broadband at Infonetics Research.
"Amazon and Google could be the last ones standing against
Apple in the tablet market in the coming years based on their ability to offset
a loss on the hardware through content sales and advertising revenue,
respectively," Blin said.
