Analysts: Apple iPad Mini Will Cannibalize Bigger Brothers

Handheld device with 7.9-inch screen to put pressure on tablet rivals

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/23/2012 4:16:05 PM

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.

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