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Analyst: Apple's iPad Mini Will Dominate Holiday Season

This article is more than 10 years old.

Apple is announcing its new iPad mini tomorrow.  It won’t be the sort of revelation the iPad itself was, but one analyst thinks it’s going to make serious waves as we approach the holiday season. Deutsche Bank’s Chris

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Whitmore says that the new product is going to be a “barn burner,” and has a stock target set at $850.

The iPad mini will be a crucial expansion of the greater iPad market, much like the iPod Nano once was for the iPod line. It will likely be a smaller, budget version of the iPad, with a lower resolution and a lower price point. While some dedicated Apple fans may pick this up even though they already own a Macbook Pro and an iPad, the target market is people put off by the original iPad’s price point.

"Apple is uniquely positioned (brand, ecosystem, developer support, etc) to capitalize on the next wave of tablet adoption and capture the lion's share of industry profits. We believe the iPad mini will enable Apple to extend it competitive lead as Android remains fragmented, MSFT RT is not compatible with Windows 8 and PC OEMs haven't put forth an iPad killer,” writes Whitmore, according to CNN Money.

The tablet market is only getting bigger – while early adopters, by and large, already have tablets, it’s hard to imagine that a wealth of cheaper and easier machines isn't going to continue expanding past the high-end market. That’s the name of the game for Apple right now – it’s already established as the dominant name in tablets writ large, now it wants to expand that footprint as wide as it can go.

I’m inclined to agree with Whitmore -- $500 is a pricey holiday present for most people, but something below $300 starts to become feasible. Considering the iPad mini will still have that Apple new product shine on it, I think we can expect it to move.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is hoping to siphon off some of that high-end market with the Surface, which is priced to compete with Apple’s flagship tablet rather than more wallet-friendly models.