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Here’s an interesting titbit that leaked out over the weekend. It looks like Apple might be targeting the iPad Mini squarely at those who love a good book, oh, and probably at education too. Is the iPad Mini Apple’s Kindle killer?
Apparently Apple has a brand new version of iBooks waiting in the wings, as at least one App Store listing marks iBooks 3 as a requirement, which means it should arrive tomorrow along with the iPad Mini and various new Apple hardware. The interesting thing is that the book extract itself doesn’t fully work in the current version of iBooks, meaning this isn’t just a typo.
Apple’s bumped the resolution of its full sized iPad to retina levels, which means text is super sharp on its dense display; there’s no reason to doubt Apple will pump out a similar level of pixel density on the new Mini. With iBooks 3, Apple’s education-aimed textbook schemes, and the smaller, more book-sized form factor, the iPad Mini could be Apple’s real assault on the ebook market, and therefore Amazon’s Kindle line. [iGen, TNW via 9to5Mac]
No.
Comments closed, everyone out!
Awwwwwww, but I wasn’t finished yet.
I would assume so? I mean the Kindle Fire & the HD model do very well for 159 quid. But this is aiming at a market that has all the associated functions on their iPads and putting onto a small outlet. In essence we know it will rival Kindle and even Nexus 7 and the other 6-8 inch screened tablets. That’s the main reason for this. Money in a market they wish to conquer.
I don’t see why Appple doesn’t just burn up some of that huge cash surplus and sell the current iPad at Kindle prices, It would destroy the opposition and get everyone hooked on Apples brand of crack which would mean bigger profits in the long run.
if google does sell the nexus 7 8gb for 99quid they would achieve that, especially as christmas is nearing and that christmas pressie money for the kids, and it would mean them getting into android first.
it would give android an even better foothold
That’s a very, very good point. Why don’t Apple hire you as their marketer!
I don’t Know, Tim’s not even returning my calls. Never had that problem with Steve.
Why would it need to tap into the surplus again?
I think if Apple does sell iPad Mini’s at dirt cheap prices, it would be a major shift from their big profit margin strategy. Amazon sells it’s Kindles at nearly cost price, and makes it’s profits from Book sales. They are uniquely positioned to do this. Apple doesn’t have such a big ebook market presence. So if they sell Mini’s at cost price, where would they make the profits from?
They get a 30% cut of everything sold via iTunes, they get people buying an Apple product, which tends to lead to buying more Apple products (since they are designed to work best with each other). Also if Apple has a Kindle priced e-reader it would have a larger e-book presence. Incidentaly I wasn’t suggesting selling mini’s at cost price, I was saying they should sell the full size iPad at Kindle prices.
What have you done? This is how Planet of the Apes begins…
My thoughts exactly, Apple could halve the prices of the iPad before even selling them at a loss, and then is still getting tons of money for the content. If they were to follow Amazon’s business model, I shudder to think of the consequences.
I know what you mean, but the shareholders would never go for that plan!
The shareholders would never go for an idea to wipe out the companies competitors and retain market dominance in a young and still largely untapped sector? Really?
Nope, they would see it as a risk to their money. Apple has never been about market dominance (with the iPod they did manage it), it has been about quality high end products and among other things…profit margins. I think that if they went down the ‘sell at cost price’ route they would actually succeed, but it is still a risky strategy. Sony sold the original PS3 at cost (I think they actually lost a bit per console) and it took a long time before they managed to become profitable.
Also, cheap Apple products means that everyone would have one which means the brand cachet would evaporate.
Sadly Apple’s war chest for litigati- sorry “product development” would also suffer, Darrell. Unlike an Apple, money doesn’t grow on trees.
Please, think of the lawyers.
Ah yes, I had forgotten those poor destitute Apple lawyers, foolish of me, they would suffer too much, forget I said anything.
James Caan mentioned recently that companies who forget their customers’ needs are the ones who fail, and as he’s made a bob or two he must know what he’s on about, right?
Except that Apple seems to know all too well that its customers are more than willing to pay through the nose and is happy to take advantage of this.
You have to remember that Apple has said NOTHING about an iPad mini so far, all these “rumors” have come from the iPad users who are jealous of the kindle fire and nexus 7 :/
I’m sure that if they can afford an iPad, they could afford a Kindle Fire or Nexus 7. Personally I’m not interested in 7inch screens, however my wife wants to upgrade her iPad (she has the original) and is waiting to see if the iPad Mini is real.
Apple also didn’t say anything about increasing the size of the iPhone’s screen. Were those rumours also just made by Apple users jealous of gargantuous android phones?
Not a good example, Since the rumours of a larger screen were going around before the 4S launch as well (and basically since Android phones started to dominate)
It was just a comment regarding the reliability of rumours when Apple is involved, the ones surrounding the 4S were never as precise or non-contradicting between sources as with the 5 or the iPad mini.
That’s because while Steve Jobs Lived no-one dare leak something about an Apple product. If you were a supplier, you’d lose a contract, If you were a tech blog, you’d lose access to Apple events (and your front door). In the Tim Cook era, nobody is scared anymore.
I’m not too attached to my front door anyway, ahhh the good ol’ days when CEOs weren’t scared to send snarky emails to customers or call SWAT over a single rumour.
I have a new ipad and it’s far superior to the old one for reading text due to the pixel density. It’s great for comics, interactive magazines, text books etc, but I still use my Kindle for e-books. E-ink is superior for reading for long periods of time (and in the sun), can’t wait for my Kindle Paperwhite to arrive!
A retina iPad mini? Surely another resolution for iOS would just add that fragmentation that Apple is so critical of.
+This.