Search Here

Yesterday's unveiling of Apple's new iPad Mini in California received a tepid response from a number of analysts who say the gadget's surprising price tag, $349 for a WI-FI-only version, will make it less of a threat than expected to similarly sized tablets, Reuters reported.

At 7.9 inches tall and 5.3 inches wide, the Mini is considerably smaller than Apple's flagship 10 inch iPad. Nevertheless it can do everything its older, larger sibling can do.

Early rumors expressed an expectation the Mini would compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7, which range in price from $159 to $199, though that number creeped up to $349 days before the unveiling.

"Demand for Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire is unlikely to be much affected by the launch of the mini given the significant price gap," Nomura Equity Research said, as reported by Reuters.

"At $329, it won't draw people from Kindles and Nooks," Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan, said, as reported by Bloomberg.

On the other hand, consumers appear to be considerably more enthusiastic about the latest generation iPad, as evidenced by their responses on Twitter.

The website Minyanville published the following Tweets:

@Nahayan, tweeted, "#iPadMini will destroy other tabs!!!"

@Fluny1 tweeted, "Looks like Microsoft won't be selling a lot of Surface this year."

Others tweeted their sympathy for people who bought the iPad 3, also a smaller iPad, which has now been surpassed by a later version in only six months.

Apple shares on Nasdaq were flat this morning at $615, Reuters reported. The company's quarterly report is expected Thursday. It sold 17 million iPads in the year's second quarter.

The company will begin accepting orders for the iPad Mini Friday and the product is scheduled to ship and hit stores on Nov. 2.