iPad Mini...

spoffle said:
That still doesn't mean that they cost £159 to manufacture and package (in the case of the Nexus 7).

Do you think the shops and distributors are also selling them at cost?
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There is a rumour that Google is making a loss on them when sold outside of the play store.

It's doesn't exactly take a genius to work out why they would make a small loss... The same reason MS made massive losses on XBoxes. They make it up by selling things on the play store and through advertising. Google are after all a major advertising company that happen to do hardware.

http://www.slashgear.com/nexus-7-production-costs-estimated-at-184-06237492/
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile...sts_167_to_Manufacture_Teardown_Analysis.html

It should be noted that these teardown assessments are preliminary in nature, account only for hardware and manufacturing costs and do not include additional expenses such as software, licensing, royalties or other expenditures.
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And I would add to that transport costs, advertising and I'm guessing research costs...
 
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It still means they at sold at cost....

Costs Google X to produce.
Google sell to retail at Z.
Costs the consumer Y.

X=Y as already stated by Google and Amazon regardless of what Z is.

But what Google and Amazon are doing is essentially a land grab and is not sustainable for a significant amount of time. Amazon posted sizable net loss last quarter. There is no money in content sales vs what you can get from the hardware. Just look at the breakdowns of revenue and profit of Apple. Most of it comes from iPhone and iPad sales. iTunes accounts for nothing compared side by side.
 
You do realise selling a high cost product at a high price for a large profit is a perfectly sound business strategy right...

Apple are in a position to do so as customers are happy to pay a higher price due to the strength of Apples brand and perceived quality of product. Google, Amazon and Samsung possess neither a high enough perceived quality of product nor the brand strength to do so and so remain uncompetitive.

The repeated update of product lines (and especially the iPad 4 update) are done quite purposely to maintain this position and consequently keep competitors from securing a foothold in the market. The longer it takes Google at al to turn the tide, the less likely they are of success and it may even reach the point that they are forced to withdraw from the tablet/phone market (the high end that is- I appreciate there are millions of cheap android devices about). Apple are clearly the differentiator in the market whereas google have had to take the place of cost leader, producing a cheap, poor quality nexus 7 to try to win market %.
 
pioneer2000 said:
You do realise selling a high cost product at a high price for a large profit is a perfectly sound business strategy right...

Apple are in a position to do so as customers are happy to pay a higher price due to the strength of Apples brand and perceived quality of product. Google, Amazon and Samsung possess neither a high enough perceived quality of product nor the brand strength to do so and so remain uncompetitive.

The repeated update of product lines (and especially the iPad 4 update) are done quite purposely to maintain this position and consequently keep competitors from securing a foothold in the market. The longer it takes Google at al to turn the tide, the less likely they are of success and it may even reach the point that they are forced to withdraw from the tablet/phone market (the high end that is- I appreciate there are millions of cheap android devices about). Apple are clearly the differentiator in the market whereas google have had to take the place of cost leader, producing a cheap, poor quality nexus 7 to try to win market %.
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I don't know why you included phones in the post, high end phones with Android sell tens of millions every year :confused: its only in the tablet market that Apple has a massive advantage.
 
Yes it was more relevant to tablets, but still holds true for phones. The closest competitor to the iPhone, the Galaxy S3 hasn't sold as well as the iPhone 4S / 5.
 
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Specced up the spec I want

2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x8GB
1TB Fusion Drive
Apple USB SuperDrive
Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)
Apple Wireless Keyboard - British
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£2,318.02...

Hmmmm I wonder how much the same 27" iMac spec would cost
 
pioneer2000 said:
Yes it was more relevant to tablets, but still holds true for phones. The closest competitor to the iPhone, the Galaxy S3 hasn't sold as well as the iPhone 4S / 5.
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:D

So a single phone hasn't sold as well as two different phones... Seems the arguments have gone full circle...

(But I get what you are getting at, the GS2 and GS3 probably haven't sold as many as the 4s and 5 put together), not by much though.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Specced up the spec I want
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Wrong mini thread mate ;)


Both Amazon and Google seem to have the same idea as regards selling their tablets at (or near) cost and hoping to make money on content.

Whereas Apple are quite happy to make money on both :)
 
So do Google get a cut of the money when you buy and Android app in the same way Apple get money from iTunes? If so I can see why they would sell hardware at a loss.
 
This iPad Mini launch really hasn't interested me... I don't get it. Yes it's smaller than an iPad but it's still too big to fit in your pocket properly, and if you're carrying a bag why not just have a larger screened iPad? It doesn't make sense to me.
 
DcD said:
This iPad Mini launch really hasn't interested me... I don't get it. Yes it's smaller than an iPad but it's still too big to fit in your pocket properly, and if you're carrying a bag why not just have a larger screened iPad? It doesn't make sense to me.
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Weight, comfort. I prefer my nexus 7 to my ipad 3 for this reason, id like the nexus 7 to be a wee bit bigger for reading pdf's but I would need to see the mini in the flesh first to see if it looks okay with the lower resolution.
 
DcD said:
This iPad Mini launch really hasn't interested me... I don't get it. Yes it's smaller than an iPad but it's still too big to fit in your pocket properly, and if you're carrying a bag why not just have a larger screened iPad? It doesn't make sense to me.
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I agree. Although there does seem to be a market for smaller tablets as Google and Amazon are proving...
 
DcD said:
This iPad Mini launch really hasn't interested me... I don't get it. Yes it's smaller than an iPad but it's still too big to fit in your pocket properly, and if you're carrying a bag why not just have a larger screened iPad? It doesn't make sense to me.
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I caught my sister looking at them online. The Mini would fit in her handbags, the regular iPad wouldn't, plus it's way lighter and crazy thin. I actually think the Mini appeals to the female market quite well - I commute and while iPhones and say, Kindles are spread evenly between the sexes, the vast majority of iPad owners are men.
 
Amp34 said:
:D

So a single phone hasn't sold as well as two different phones... Seems the arguments have gone full circle...

(But I get what you are getting at, the GS2 and GS3 probably haven't sold as many as the 4s and 5 put together), not by much though.
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not by much? I wouldn't be surprised if the figure was double or triple what the Galaxy line sells.
 
Don't really see the point of the iPad mini . The iPhone is great fro travelling light and the normal size iPad is small enough to replace the netbook and laptops . Why do we need anything in between this ?
 
Mini's the perfect size for travelling imo, for eg, sitting on a plane, the smaller unit gives you a bit of privacy for work stuff or even watching movies. I carry a laptop and a TAB 7.7, as its just easier to pull out the tab tbh, a 10" device is just too close to a laptop for me :)

Anyway, these will sell like hot cakes, on the brand alone, my tab 7.7 is a lovely device, cracking screen,powerfull etc etc, but this is cheaper and the brand loyalty will reap rewards for the apple machine!
 
It sounds like Apple have nailed it, again: http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576178/apple-ipad-mini-review

The iPad mini is an excellent tablet — but it's not a very cheap one. Whether that's by design, or due to market forces beyond Apple's control, I can't say for sure. I can't think of another company that cares as much about how its products are designed and built — or one that knows how to maximize a supply chain as skillfully — so something tells me it's no accident that this tablet isn't selling for $200. It doesn't feel like Apple is racing to some lowest-price bottom — rather it seems to be trying to raise the floor.

And it does raise the floor here. There's no tablet in this size range that's as beautifully constructed, works as flawlessly, or has such an incredible software selection. Would I prefer a higher-res display? Certainly. Would I trade it for the app selection or hardware design? For the consistency and smoothness of its software, or reliability of its battery? Absolutely not. And as someone who's been living with (and loving) Google's Nexus 7 tablet for a few months, I don't say that lightly.

The iPad mini hasn't wrapped up the "cheapest tablet" market by any stretch of the imagination. But the "best small tablet" market? Consider it captured.
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Just a shame about the screen, but it's not the end of the world. I think it's worth $100~ more than a Nexus 7, personally.

I don't really need one though.
 
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