Needs a name
iPadlet
Take care with fresh claims that Apple will have an 'iPad Mini' out in Q3: they seem to be simply repeating a similar claim made back in March. Then, Taiwanese moles said the Mac maker would have the scaled-down iPad out in the third quarter - or at least launched within that three-month period. These claims echo rumours …
current iPad2 screen res of 1024x768 shrunken down to an 8" screen ... whats the ppi on that? Better, obviously, but how much better?
It would make selling 2 ipads make more sense than the current system of "have this one thats shiney and now, or this one thats from last year and just makes you look a bit cheap to your friends". At least "portability" would be a better justification for buying lower spec.
"The reason we won't make a 7-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit that price point, it's because we think the screen is too small to express the software."
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2010/10/steve-jobs-apple-wont-make-7-inch-ipad.html
The iPhone is pricey because it includes a phone!
iPads are pricey because people will pay that and because bigger screens cost
A replacement for the ageing iPod touch priced at a point that stops anyone else entering the market sounds like good sense. And it drags in nice profitable appstore and iTunes customers who couldn't afford a $500 iPad and might be looking at Androids
Because it makes use of existing cheaper tech than the stuff used in the 4S and iPad3, an iPad mini would be based on an ipad2 but with the same screen process (cut larger) used in the 3GS, materials costs are similarly reduced and the battery can be smaller (cheaper) than the iPad2.
I suspect the margins will be lower, although they'll still make money on them, but at a $250 price point they'll compete directly with Amazon who at this point is the only other player in the Tablet market that has the ability to threaten iOS.