In Steve Jobs’ biography, he repeatedly stressed the importance of creating fewer, top of the line products, rather than a slew of mediocre ones. Apple has always thrived on branding and staying ahead of the game.
It surprised me that the iPad Mini is not only real, but it is named exactly what rumors called it. Is Apple getting too predictable? Now we have a big variety of sizes for tablets and smartphones in the Apple lineup. Most people can reconcile having both an iPad and an iPhone, but can you do that for the iPad Mini and the iPhone?
I don’t see it taking the hold of the 7″ tablet market like the original 10″ iPad currently has on the larger tablet market. Obviously, price is one factor. The iPad mini is $329, whereas the Kindle Fire HD, Nook Tablet, and Nexus 7 are all $199. So, they will attract different types of consumers.
For thee moment, I don’t think the Kindle Fire HD has too much to worry about from that end. The Nexus 7 is proving to be a solid competitor, but competition is good because it make the devices strive to get better and better with each generation.
It used to be that the major tech giants excelled in different areas. Google held the monopoly on search engines, Amazon was the pioneer for ebooks, Microsoft reigned over the PC market, and Apple took control over computers, and later music.
Now, they’re all trying to one up each other by creating competing products. This can be quite overwhelming for the consumer! Maybe it is best to just let them duul it out, and see what the winners are.
As far as choices go, longevity is a good thing to consider. The Kindle Fire is in its second generation, and has ironed out some issues that the first generation had. The new Kindle Fire family includes better display, better designed hardware, and a camera. Amazon also has a good sized marketplace with a free app every day.
For the 10″ inch tablets, the iPad still dominates that market, and has had a couple of years to improve. Apple of course has a huge appstore, and includes a number of business apps.
Only time will tell what the winners will be in the tablet market. It is sure to be a wild ride.