The Apple Beat: iPad mini will likely succeed by creating its own niche

Amazon's getting twitchy about the iPad mini. It ran this comparison on its websiteBy Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple did not create the iPad mini to battle Amazon's Kindle or even Google's Nexus 7, at least not in price. The new 7.9-inch tablet, which shares a lot of the specs of the iPad 2, is likely going to create its own niche while diversifying the iPad's existing user base.

While Apple's Phil Schiller compared the iPad mini to the Nexus 7 during the recent launch, it is pretty obvious that he was focusing on the differences in user experience, not pricing.

The point was to illustrate the advantages of the iPad mini's design and approach vs. the Nexus 7 (such as full web browsing vs. mobile, larger screen coverage, dual cameras, thinner and lighter body and superior build quality). 

The Nexus 7 is still an amazing tablet, it is my favourite 7-inch tablet right now and the best Android experience on a tablet I have personally used. I have yet to test an iPad mini but I am excited at the prospect of downsizing my iPad experience and will likely buy the black and slate 4G-LTE model once it becomes available in late November.

Throughout the past two years, I've tested various Android tablets and even regretfully purchased a few of them. Google will continue to build its market with the Nexus 7 and possibly the Nexus 10 specially since it has set such an affordable pricing for these pure Google tablets.

As for Amazon's Kindle Fire and Fire HD, I think these will continue to thrive. At $199 and with the Amazon ecosystem of movies, music, TV and books, they will appeal to users already tied in to that world specially with Amazon Prime, but the Kindle Fire is not nor has ever been an International product.  

The iPad mini, on the other hand, is most certainly  an International product and one that brings down the price and the size of the already much in-demand larger iPad. Preorders have already been maxxed out and the product still a few days away from hitting store shelves.

So, while Amazon's Kindle may continue to dominate holiday sales in the U.S., there's no question which tablet will do better globally.

I, for one am excited to see the smaller tablet segment start to become more competitive. 7-ish inch tablets are so much more portable and more fun to use than their larger counterparts, specially for content consumption. I currently have my hands full will a newborn baby at home and often only have one hand to spare. I look at the 9.7-inch iPad and then the iPhone and the iPhone wins every time, a 7.9-inch iPad mini would be perfect in many instances.

The iPad mini also has a 4G-LTE variant which changes the game for this market segment. The only other 7-inch tablet I know of that runs 4G-LTE is the BlackBerry PlayBook although there's a new Nexus 7 that will feature HSPA+. Enterprise users and anyone who needs fast data on-the-go in a small tablet form factor now have those three devices to choose from.

Consumer choice is really the winner in this situation. We now have an array of stunning products from $199-up. Unlike the 9.7-inch tablet market which is dominated by the larger iPad, the 7 to 8-inch tablet market is a vibrant marketplace of opportunity and it will be interesting to see if consumer tastes (and budget) will shift towards the smaller tablet experience.