Apple is reportedly launching a mini version of the iPad this month, as the firm looks to fend of increasing competition from the likes of Amazon, Google and Samsung in the growing mini-tablet market.
Apple is expected to introduce the iPad mini on October 17th – just a week before arch rival Amazon launches its Fire range of tablets in the UK. The device will be available in shops on November 2, according to Fortune magazine.
The device is believed to have similar hardware to last year’s iPad 2, but reduced to an almost pocket-friendly seven or eight-inch form.
Fortune reports that Apple will send out invites for the launch on October 10, gathering tech journalists and stakeholders together to unveil the device.
If Apple follows previous form, the event will be held in San Francisco, with a simultaneous launch on London.
Images purporting to show the iPad Mini suggest a device measuring 7.85inches, with an aluminium back-cover similar to the most recent iPad.
It is likely to sport a rear-facing camera and come with Apple’s newest ‘lightning’ connector, a controversial re-design which made previous accessories and chargers obsolete without an adapter.
If Apple follows its usual design styles, it is likely to come in white and black versions, with a choice of WiFi only, or a 3G option. However this unconfirmed.
The device, while still likely to garner a premium price-tag, will help Apple compete with the burgeoning smaller tablet market.
The 7-inch Google Nexus tablet sells for £159 for the cheapest version, while Amazon is also producing a budget tablet range.
In his life, Steve Jobs was unconvinced that a smaller tablet would be a success, seeing it as a poor compromise between a tablet and a phone. However Apple appears to have had a change of heart,
10 million orders?
Meanwhile, Apple has reportedly placed an order with suppliers for 10 million “iPad minis,” according to a report recently published by The Wall Street Journal.
It has also been suggested that this order is double that of current Amazon Kindle Fire orders.
The WSJ notes that some component suppliers to Apple in Asia say they have received orders to make more than 10 million units of the smaller tablets in the fourth quarter. That is roughly double the order that were placed for Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets in the same quarter, these suppliers say.
