Apple’s new iPad mini with retina display could be a sales winner this retail holiday season — which may not be good news for the tech titan, Wall Street insiders said.
The 7.9-inch $399 tablet unveiled Tuesday has been upgraded to better compete with the $499 full-size iPad, so much so that analysts believe it could steal away sales from the 10-inch tablet — newly renamed iPad Air — and thus hurt Apple’s top-line performance.
“Now the mini is more compelling,” said Scott Kessler, a tech analyst with S&P Capital IQ, of upgrades to the diminutive product.
“We could see a greater level of mini cannibalization,” he said.
Indeed, the second-generation mini, whose price was increased from $329, comes with the same processor and battery life as well as a new high-definition screen.
The mini will be available sometime in November, while the iPad Air goes on sale Nov. 1.
Meanwhile, the price of the old mini has been dropped to just $299, which analysts think will help
Apple compete with lower-priced tablets.
Amazon’s newest 7-inch Kindle, for example, comes with HDX display and sells for $229 and up.
Despite fears that Apple could be its biggest enemy when it comes to pricing, Wall Street largely applauded its latest product launches and predicted that they will result in a big boost in sales over the holidays.
Still, when it came to the stock, Wall Street largely shrugged off news, sending shares down 0.3 percent to $519.87.
Analysts attributed the lackluster stock reaction to the many leaks of thinner, lighter iPad 5 specs that happened in recent weeks that stole the thunder from CEO Tim Cook’s announcement in San Francisco on Tuesday.
“Everything announced was already leaked by blogs and expected by the market,” said analyst Mike Walkley of Canaccord.