Tomorrow, Apple jumps into the phablet market with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.   And while some are wondering what sort of bite this might take out of iPad Mini sales, I have to wonder if they'll even bother releasing a new iPad Mini this year at all.  

The iPad Mini was quite a hit when it first arrived, even leaching some sales from the iPad 4.  The original Mini was an iPad 2 wrapped in a sleek design and with an even better sticker price of $329.

 That was quite a deal compared to the $499 entry level price of the iPad 4.   And with better cameras and access to 4G LTE, the original Mini was a better tablet than the $399 iPad 2.

The iPad Mini 2 -- officially known as the "iPad Mini with Retina Display" -- was a bit of a flop by comparison.   The follow-up Mini was basically a cheaper, smaller iPad Air, sporting the same A7 processor and 2048x1536 "Retina Display" resolution.  In fact, the same high resolution on a smaller display meant the iPad Mini 2 actually had a clearer display than the iPad Air.  

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But it also carried a $399 price tag, which took a bite out of its sales.  After all, for just $100 more a person could buy the full-sized iPad Air.

This says something very interesting about the 7-inch tablet market.  People may love them, but it is the price moreso than the size that is driving that market.  The 7-inch tablets from iPad competitors tend to be in the $199-$249 range, most of which are being sold at cost or just-under cost and subsidized by the hope that owners will spend money in the App Store and on other media.

 

The original $329 iPad Mini may have caught on with consumers, but the $399 was priced a little too  closely to the iPad Air to generate sales.  

And with Apple releasing a 5.5-inch iPhone, does a new iPad Mini even make sense?

Perhaps a better plan would be a price cut on the iPad Mini 2, bringing it down to the $329 range.  Based on the sluggishness of my original iPad mini suffering under the weight of iOS 8, I think the days for the A5 chip that runs the iPad 2 and iPad Mini may be numbered.   The second-generation iPad Mini will still be a great tablet for years to come, and perhaps as Apple's entry-level tablet, it will finally find the sales it deserves.  

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