Most people were shocked at the high price tag of the Apple’s iPad mini at $329. The entry level-price of $329 is more than $80 more than its nearest rival.
Apple’s executive Phil Schiller offered his reasons for the $329 price of the new iPad mini tablet in an interview with Reuters. According to the report, “While the news of the launch was welcomed by Wall Street, many analysts were concerned that the steeper-than-expected price might turn away some cost conscious consumers. Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD tablets are both priced starting at $199. While the iPad mini is significantly more expensive, it is also lighter, thinner and provides more screen space than rival offerings.”
Here is what Phil Schiller had to say on the matter:
[quote] The iPad is far and away the most successful product in its category. The most affordable product we’ve made so far was $399 and people were choosing that over those devices. And now you can get a device that’s even more affordable at $329 in this great new form, and I think a lot of customers are going to be very excited about that.
Others have tried to make tablets smaller than the iPad and they’ve failed miserably, these are not great experiences.[/quote]
A new report by Digitime shines some light on why the price was so high. According to the report the high price, “largely due to low yield rates for the device’s GF2 (DITO film) touch screen technology .”
Here is what the Digitime report had to say:
[quote] The sources said the DITO film sensor is having mass production issues, which has been a big contributor to why the device is approximately 40-50% more expensive compared to other 7-inch tablets that have OGS or G/G structures.
The sources said that GF2 touch screen modules are only about roughly US$5 cheaper than G/G ones for the 9.7-inch iPad models.
The sources also said iPad 2 orders have a visibility until as late as the first quarter of 2013, which has been an extension compared with previous market predictions due to the device maintaining steady sales.[/quote]