‘iPad mini’ coming before Christmas, report claims

Analysts for Barclays said in a note to investors that a new 7-inch iPad will be released this fall, Business Insider reported on Wednesday.

“Following up on comments made last week, recent research still leads us to believe that Apple may be planning to add another form factor to its iPad line in the 7″ range for the fall,” the note read.


The banking firm states that a smaller iPad would be useful in promoting Apple’s education agenda and could also help the company’s gaming efforts.

Rather than sullying the iPad brand and iOS ecosystem, Barclays states that a “lower priced iPad [is] a necessary entry point to make the tablet market the size of the PC market by 2015 in terms of units (over 350 million units) – a figure CEO Tim Cook repeatedly mentions.”

Apple has long been rumored to be readying a 7.85-inch iPad mini to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet. The slate is expected to be priced between $249 and $299, and could launch as soon as the third quarter of 2012.