A week or so ago I wrote about the reamergence of the iPad Mini rumours, however, it only struck me as I was talking it over with my wife, during a conversation about what to start getting the kids for Christmas, that if the iPad Mini was to become a reality what would happen to the iPod Touch. Will iPad Mini knock iPod Touch off the shelves?
Here in the UK the iPod Touch retails for £169 for the 8GB model, £249 for the next model up which is the 32GB and the top of the range iPod Touch comes in at a whopping £329 for the 64GB. If you take all this information onboard and take into consideration that if Apple do release an iPad Mini, it will have to compete with devices such as the immenint Nexus 7 and others like it. The price range that the iPad Mini will be up against is roughly £159 for 8-16GB devices.
Who would really then go to an Apple store, looking for a mobile device capable of reading books, magazines, multimedia and running many other Apps, and seriously decide between an 8GB iPod Touch with a 3.5 inch screen costing £169 and then scan across to find a 7inch iPad mini with the same storage and costing perhaps £159, if we are to asume competing with the Nexus 7.
The iPod Touch is still a very popular device and so for Apple to remove it altogether would be ashame, but could Apple still retail the device under a new price structuring regime to reflect the slotting in of a 7inch iPad Mini? For me personally I would love to see a 7 inch iPad Mini, especially after I have purchased a few Android devices, from the 7 inch Kobo to the 8.9inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, and been pleasently surprised. I think the 7inch form factor is just right especially for a reading device.
With a price reduction on the iPod Touch I could definately still see a place in the market it and the iPad Mini, purely on the base of form factor as oposed to features. Lets face it, an iPod Touch, iPad Mini and iPad are essentally all the same device just different form factor.
2 Responses to “Will iPad Mini Knock iPod Touch Off The Shelves”
I think the iPod touch has just about had its day especially with the quality of smart phones you can get today. I can see the iPod gradually losing out to the mini
Many thanks Mark, glad you observed it useful.