back to article iPad mini to go on sale in one month?

A 'major Apple (AAPL) investor' citing 'multiple sources' says that Apple will inform world+dog next Wednesday of an event to be held on October 17 to announce the much-rumored iPad mini. So says a Monday report by Fortune, which notes that if said source is correct, and if Apple keeps to its usual announcement-to-release …

COMMENTS

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  1. JDX Gold badge

    Quarterly earnings statement is October 15th. Trying to cover bad news?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      seriously?

      from a company that sells 5 million £500+ phones in three days?

      1. JDX Gold badge

        Re: seriously?

        >>from a company that sells 5 million £500+ phones in three days?

        When they sold 5 million phones in 3 days, their share price dropped. Last earnings release, they broke records but share prices fell because it wasn't as amazing a new record as predicted.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Re: seriously?

          NASDAQ dropped you nit.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: seriously?

            ANALysts consistently increase their forecasts with little / no additional information than you or I - yet people listen to then - so when Apple sell bucket loads of their iPhone 5 but could not make as many as they could have sold people think 'oh some analyst said 8-10m' and they only sold 5m ignoring the fact that 5m was already well up on the 4s which was (you guessed it) well up on the 4 etc. etc.

      2. Ian Johnston Silver badge
        Thumb Down

        Re: seriously?

        That#s fairly irrelevant. What matters is whether they can go on selling 1.7 million phones a day indefinitely. Pent up fanboi demand for new shiny is no indicator of long term health.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The Second Coming perhaps?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      There will be

      There will be a lot of nervous competitors.

    5. LarsG
      Meh

      Apple

      Apple maps to be replaced by Google Maps perhaps.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Apple

        Or like antennagate perhaps Cookie will take to the stage and offer every iPhone 5 owner a map with iPhone 5 pocket on the front.

    6. Dana W
      Meh

      You have GOT to be kidding.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Rumours about announcements of rumoured products? yawn. Give it a rest.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Rumours about Rumours next.

      I noticed there's no 'rate this article' at the bottom of the page, even the author knew it was trash???

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    To stop us all posting the usual buy/no-buy/walled garden comments...

    ....please give this post an up-vote if you intend to buy a mini iPad or whatever shiny Apple announces; or a down-vote if you have no intention of so doing, you hate Apple or you would've posted a sarcastic or indignant comment on walled gardens.

    We'll see who wins after one week, or indeed, whether the Internet cares at all.

    Thank you for voting.

    1. Gareth Gouldstone
      Thumb Up

      Re: To stop us all posting the usual buy/no-buy/walled garden comments...

      How sensible, a scapegoat posting! You, sir/madam, are my hero

    2. Nanki Poo
      Mushroom

      Re: To stop us all posting the usual buy/no-buy/walled garden comments...

      Argh! I should downvote, but I also want to upvote your comment!

      Paradox Alert! Cannot . . . compu-u-ute . . .

      nK

    3. Valerion

      Re: To stop us all posting the usual buy/no-buy/walled garden comments...

      hmm, I probably won't be buying as I already have an iPad so I can't upvote. I don't hate Apple though so I can't downvote.

      We need a third boolean state here...

      1. Archibald Trumpetbeetle
        WTF?

        Re: To stop us all posting the usual buy/no-buy/walled garden comments...

        FILE_NOT_FOUND

    4. uhuznaa

      Re: To stop us all posting the usual buy/no-buy/walled garden comments...

      After using a Google Nexus 7 for a week now I can very well understand the allure of an iPad mini. It's a fabulous device, but it's more of a PC than an appliance. Great if you love to tinker around but less great if you just want a polished way of getting some things done without having to care about what's actually happening on a technical level.

      Ridiculing people who have no interest in dealing with the computer side of all this is just idiotic.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Steve Jobs...

    ...also poured scorn on the idea of the iPod playing back video. When asked about such a device, he said "Yeah sure, and it will make toast as well" or words to that effect. To be fair, watching video on the a screen the size of a iPod photo ('Classic' for you kids) isn't that great...

    However, Mr Jobs was also not keen on 16:9 displays. I agree with him. He wasn't keen on Flash on mobile devices. I agree with him. He was probably right about smaller iPads (iPhone > one hand, iPad, two hands) at the time, but now that people have got used to the larger device, they will be able to overlook the inherent cramped nature of the smaller device and embrace its advantages (fits in coat pocket/handbag/glovebox).

  5. Christoph
    Joke

    Careful with the name

    "soon to be known as the iPad maxi"

    As long as it's not "Maxipad"

    1. 0_Flybert_0

      Re: Careful with the name

      or in time .. perhaps tablets will be phones will be full on computers will be mp3 players as well ... and ...

      they will all be iMax .. just different screen sizes

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Alert

        Re: Careful with the name

        they will all be iMax

        iMax? Hmmmm.....

  6. CmdrX3

    Of one thing you can be sure

    There will be many an iFan queuing to buy it..... even the ones that already own an iPhone and an iPad, because there will sometime somewhere a moment when the iPad will be just too big, and the iPhone will be just too small. I personally can't think of one, but I'm sure they will.

  7. Tony Reeves 1
    WTF?

    Media Hype

    Let's see. Apple has 68% of the tablet market and is still growing strongly, with only a 10" offering. Rest of world, including dogs sells 10" and 7" tablets - mostly 7". Rest of world plus dogs fighting for market share and only seem to make progress by cutting price.

    Tell me again, why do Apple NEED a mini tablet?

    Not only that, there is the past stellar results of media predictions on Apple products.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Media Hype

      I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. You point out that Apple has roughly 2/3 of the tablet market with only a 10" tablet, while the competition sells both big and small tablets. Why wouldn't they want to sell a mini tablet, surely there are some people for whom the iPad is too big and/or too expensive who might consider a smaller iPad if Apple sold one. They may cannibalize their 10" market to some extent, but if you don't cannibalize your own market, someone else will do it for you.

      Also, which "stellar results of media predictions on Apple products" are you referring to? When the media laughed at Steve Jobs prediction at the original iPhone release that someday Apple might take as much as 1% of the worldwide mobile phone market share (they are closing in on 10% today) Or when the media thought iPad might see some success, but would never be more than a blip on the radar compared to PC sales? The media does tend to overhype Apple these days (10 million iPhone 5s in a weekend, anyone?) but perhaps that's because they've been made to look silly in the past underestimating Apple, so now they are erring in the other direction.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Instead of killing apple, lets nuke those Analysists?

    Analysists (these so called experts) affect everyone of us. Pretty well 100% of us EL Reg readers have money invested in the stock market. This is either directly (owning shares/Stock & shares ISA etc) or indirectly (via our pension funds).

    An Analysist say that Company XXXX will make YYYY amount of profit/business next Quarter.

    Where YYYY = Last year's figure + {now which way is the wind blowing today} * {What horse came in 2nd in the last race yesterday} * {Hefty dose of wishful thinking} * {do I unload my stock in this company today or tomorrow} etc etc etc

    Company announces results which are a little short of Anyalysists guesstimate. Share price drops 20% as a result of thie hefty dose of wishful thinking. Thus the value of your pension fund/shareholding drops accordingly.

    Even though the company still increased its profits and/or margin the value of the company drops.

    I predict (and I don't own directly any apple Shares but I do own a 4yr old iPod) that Apple will increase its profits but will fail to meet the Analysists guestimates. Thus triggering a whole round of Apple is doomed/finished/about to file for Chapter 11 etc messages.

    They won't. But that won't stop the naysayers from spouting forth.

    I'll be burrying my head in the sand while all that happens. As I'm in the middle of the Negev this won't be hard.

    let the 'I hate Apple' down voting begin.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Instead of killing apple, lets nuke those Analysists?

      Upvoted because your analysis is far too sensible for the comments section on an Apple story :-)

    2. Ian Johnston Silver badge
      Thumb Down

      Re: Instead of killing apple, lets nuke those Analysists?

      Your pension fund/shareholding only had its previous high value because of analysts guesses, so it's illogical to whinge when those guesses turn out to have been wrong and the share price falls to a more sensible level.

  9. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. GitMeMyShootinIrons

      Re: Saw them being built two weeks ago

      They had realised that making plastic mock ups to sell to analysts was more profitable than making the real thing.... :-)

  10. I_am_Chris

    coincidence?

    iPad 1 not getting iOS 6 - effectively EOL'd

    Now, new mini iPad in the offing.

    Coincidence? I don't think so...

    1. DJV Silver badge
      Happy

      "iPad 1 not getting iOS 6 - effectively EOL'd"

      or, put another way "iPad 1 owners ecstatic that they can still use Google Maps"

  11. Big_Ted
    Mushroom

    Please lets get this right....

    Its not an iPad mini

    It just a big iPod......

    Will still be too big due to not being 16:9 to fit in most coat pockets so you will need to buy an iBag to carry it round in....

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Please lets get this right....

      Isn't the new iPhone 5 16:9? Or at least close to it, as it's now tall and thin. So that gives Apple more tablet options now, without having to support an extra different screen size. They could make their 7" tablet 16:9 because it then fits in pockets.

      One issue I see is how ridiculous it's going to make the pricing of the iPod Touch look. They are seriously expensive.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    'A 'major Apple (AAPL) investor' citing 'multiple sources' says that Apple will inform world+dog next Wednesday of an event to be held on October 17 to announce the much-rumored iPad mini.'

    Investors in the US aren't supposed to have privileged information ahead of other investors. Does this mean the Apple leak inquiry will be done the SEC this time?

  13. Confuciousmobil
    Unhappy

    I didn't think Apple would increase the size of the screen on the iPhone. I was wrong.

    I didn't think Apple would ever release something as bad as Apple Maps. I was wrong.

    I don't think Apple will release an iPad Mini (iPod Touch Maxi?)

    Three out of three?

  14. Fred Dibnah
    Thumb Up

    Good on you

    Pleased to see that in the picture on the headline ticker you used a real Mini, instead of the hateful BMW version.

  15. Emmett Jenner
    Coffee/keyboard

    What is the point of renaming the iPad to iPad 'maxi' after an iPad 'mini' comes out. We're getting close to the end of the year now and I've read a lot of crap sentences. That ranks pretty high on the craptograph. My mum could come up with better story-padding than that.

  16. Martin
    Happy

    The really interesting thing will be...

    ...the screen ratio.

    Is it going to be a large iPhone - so 16x9 ?

    Or a small iPad - so 4x3 ?

    My money's on the former.

    If so, it'll be quite amusing watching Apple play catch-up and the iFans pretending that Apple are innovating.

  17. Nick Kew
    Big Brother

    Who will be there?

    Note that you can only get to the event by following your satnav using Apple maps and autohypnotic suggestion. Other maps such as Google, Nokia or Bing simply won't get you there.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The mini iPad will be the other shoe dropping

    The first part of this strategy was the iBooks tie-up with textbook publishers. I'm predicting the miniPad announcement will major on demoing interactive textbooks.

    On the plus side, if kids don't need to lug several kilos of books around and get strained necks and shoulders, that's a good thing.

    On the negative side - this really needs to be a very open market

  19. Nameless Faceless Computer User

    Size doesn't matter. The platform is too restrictive, too expensive, doesn't do anything useful other than providing a link for Apple to suck money out of your wallet.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I don't get these too restrictive comments - I have MP3s - I import them - I have videos - I import them. iTunes music is DRM free. Other 'restrictions' (video etc.) are more likely imposed by the studios. Yes you can only use the iTunes App store but it's huge and at least they give half a poo about what gets in there - the Android store is full of cr@p. If you are the sort to want to reprogram everything and tinker then Android probably suits you - but for the majority of people who just want stuff to work (and at least be supported for a long time) you choose Apple.

      Just got given (back) an iPhone 3GS when they got my old '4' when I upgraded to a '5' last week - it still runs fine and runs iOS 6 and is getting a new owner - it's 4 years old but still a perfectly useable phone and I expect it will be for at least a year longer.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Toys R Us

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      That is just meaningless - I may have just said Pink Hippo...?

  21. We're all in it together

    Please no!

    It's called the iMini me.

    Both BMW and Mike Myers are about to be served with an injunction.

    It's our smallest iPad yet.

    It'll make playing Angry Birds bloody difficult 'cos you won't know whether to zoom in or out on those complex levels.

    The maps won't be an issue as you won't be able to see them clearly anyway.

    And it'll use a son of lightning connector

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Will El Reg get an invite to this event?

  23. Edward Noel

    13" Retina Display too?

    I hope they'll use this event to announce the 13" MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It has long been rumoured to be launching in October. Sorry to add to the rumour mill, but I quite enjoy rumours!

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