Apple readying 'iPad mini,' reports claim
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Is an 'iPad mini' coming this fall? (Reuters)
Loosening the iPad’s iron grip on the tablet market has proven to be a difficult task for would-be usurpers to the mobile throne; in May, IDC reported that the iPad accounted for 68 percent of all tablet shipments in the first quarter of the year. One area that’s seen some Android success is the low-cost, 7-inch niche, where offerings like the Nook Tablet, the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7 have attracted considerable consumer interest.
That attention may have roused the tablet king to action: several sources have told Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal that Apple is developing an “iPad mini” of its own with a screen size somewhere between 7 and 8 inches.
Bloomberg’s sources say the iPad mini won’t have a Retina Display in order to keep costs down and compete with the $200 price tag of the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7 tablet. They expect Apple to announce the pint-sized tablet as early as October… which would fit right in with the tidbits leaked by the WSJ’s sources.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}That newspaper’s insiders come from within Apple component supply chain, and they claim that Apple has told its suppliers — including LG Display and AU Optronics — to be ready for the mass production of a tablet with a screen size under 8 inches, starting this September.
Rumors of a smaller iPad have been floating around for months, but this is the first time they’ve been mentioned by sources for a major publication. Apple, unsurprisingly, has yet to comment.
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