Apple iPad Mini Could Complicate Things For Windows 8 Tablets 200
Nerval's Lobster writes "Current rumor suggests that Apple is gearing up to unveil its iPad Mini Oct. 17, with invitations to media arriving Oct. 10. That's according to Fortune, which obtained the information from an unnamed Apple investor who, in turn, heard those dates from other unnamed sources. While that attribution might prove a bit too vaporous for some people, it does align with earlier reports from AllThingsD that Apple is planning to reveal a smaller iPad sometime in October. If those rumors prove accurate, the unveiling of an iPad Mini in that timeframe could prove very bad news for the upcoming Windows 8 tablets. (Gizmodo offers a pretty complete rumor rundown on the iPad Mini's possible features here.) Unlike the traditional PC market, Microsoft doesn't dominate the market for mobile-device operating systems. Windows 7 tablets never gained much of a toehold among tablet users, who prefer iPads and Android-based devices by wide margins. When it comes to Windows 8 (and Windows RT, the version of next-generation Windows for ARM architecture), Microsoft is starting out as the underdog."
Doesn't sound likely (Score:4, Insightful)
From what I've seen, Windows 8 tablets are focused on the 9-12 inch segment. I'd say the real threat posed by the iPad Mini is against the smaller stuff, like the small Kindle Fire (HD or not), Nexus 7 and similar hardware.
Who fucking cares? (Score:5, Insightful)
There is absolutely no story here. Nothing to even connect Microsoft and Apple.
"Competition from X could be bad for Y".
What a fucking wank fest this site is. Anyways, flame on, dopes.
Re:Doesn't sound likely (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the concern is that the iPad mini will steal the Slate's thunder and may come in cheaper than an iPad 2 which is $399. It would be a black eye for Microsoft if the flagship Windows 8 tablet fails to gain any traction in the marketplace.
Meh (Score:5, Insightful)
If the rumours are true and judging by the lack of innovation with the iPhone 5 it seems likely that the iPad Mini won't be anything special. Gizmodo seems to be expecting a sub-HD screen, the same as the iPhone, and fairly pedestrian hardware specs. iOS 6 is already out so we know what to expect from that.
Their competitors are doing things like split screen multitasking at a price point it seems unlikely Apple will be able to match (the iPod Touch is $300).
Complicate? (Score:4, Insightful)
I would argue that it does considerably more than simply complicate things. The iPad mini will show that Apple can create and expand upon a range of high quality devices on what is essentially a single platform. It's all about the ecosystem that you can buy today vs. Microsoft's ever persistent promises of a better tomorrow. While that may be an oversimplification, most end users just want something that works, looks great, and makes their lives easier. Currently, I don't see that with Windows outside of the traditional desktop experience.
Re:Plant (Score:5, Insightful)
Always nice to know that Apple plant's stories (or exposes the media bias). I love how everytime some big iPad killer is announced, *someone* posts a story about the iPad mini. Remember the Nexus 7 launch? One week later there was a iPad mini that proved to be vaporware. At least this time it's BEFORE the launch of Win 8, so we'll see it was just a plant story of vaporware.
So Apple must have planted these stories even though their official stance has been "We don't comment on upcoming products." All the while they are orchestrating some media campaign to discredit competing devices (which they don't really compete against anyways). Or the other plausible explanation is that in the vacuum of real information, many fans endlessly speculate on upcoming products? If you want FUD campaigns, see what MS was doing in the 80s and 90s. The problem for MS is that it doesn't work any more.
Re:so? (Score:3, Insightful)
They won't, but they will have perfected it.
See tablets pre-iPad, and tablets post-iPad.
Re:Complicate? (Score:3, Insightful)
Microsoft's biggest advantage to date is simply "Windows". Microsoft is a "windows" company, that is what they sell and support. Everything is built on, around and for windows (including Xbox btw). That is also their Achilles' Heal.
They cannot or will not support, fully, other devices and OSes. Nobody wants Windows 8 except a few. There is a huge market for Office Support on other products that is being filled by other people, not Microsoft. They will never make that market, because it isn't "Windows".
Windows 8 is too late, and still nobody has seen it in the wild on a Tablet. Meanwhile iOS is changing (getting smaller) and Android has completely caught up to iPads. I was at Walmart last night (cheap DVDs) and saw the sales guy talking about iPads and Nexus 7" to a lady that bought the Nexus 7". It was a better fit, and a price point that Apple can't match. They are getting eaten alive at the bottom.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has NOTHING. Not the High End (going away), nor at the low end (Nexus 7") They have no place to go.
Re:so? (Score:5, Insightful)
The point is that whether the iPad is any good or not, there was no market before the iPad. List all the Android tablets on the market prior to Spring of 2010.
Re:so? (Score:4, Insightful)
Every time there is a launch event, the share price jumps in the days between the announcement of the event and the event itself as rumors run rampant, and then the price tanks after the event when the newly announced product doesn't have all of the unrealistic features that the analysts and fanboys predicted. The price then goes up slowly but steadily afterwards when the average consumer realizes that it is a pretty good product despite not having all those impossible features and the product sells like hotcakes.