With iPad Mini, Apple poised to shake up tablet market. Again

According to cNET, Apple will shake up the tablet market again with thier newest generation iPad: The iPad Mini, the tablet which was released on Tuesday, October 23, 2012.

Apple's smaller, lower-cost iPad Mini could hasten the company's goal of getting its products in every consumer's hands.

The iPad Mini, which will retail for as low $329 and features a 7.9-inch display, dramatically expands the base of customers for Apple, and gives the company a new area of growth at a time when its highly profitable iPhone, as well as its MacBook and iMac lines, reach maturity. The iPad Mini, which will sell at a 34 percent discount to its larger cousin, simultaneously puts the rest of the competition, including Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Google's Nexus 7, on notice.

The original iPad redefined what a tablet could look and feel like, and what it could do, turning a once niche segment into a blockbuster success for Apple. The iPad Mini isn't anywhere near as revolutionary, and indeed is a response to other emerging low-cost alternatives, but could still transform the tablet's status from a luxury gadget to a mainstream item.

"At $329 you should expect more people getting into the tablet market," said Julien Blin, an analyst at Infonetics Research.

If nothing else, the iPad Mini is set to extend Apple's lead in the tablet business. The company already has a larger share in the tablet market than the rest of the competition combined, although Android is quickly catching up.