According to the latest industry projections from Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray, Apple’s rumored but soon to be reality iPad Mini – a 7-inch lower-cost version of the iPad – will be a pretty big seller this holiday shopping season despite less than enthusiastic survey results from the mobile community.
In a surprising result, only 43% of respondents to a poll from TheStreet said they would definitely buy an iPad Mini should Apple decide to make one.
Munster, however, says that the iPad Mini will detract about 10 percent of sales away from the regular iPad. But luckily for Apple, the iPad Mini could capture at least 30% of Android tablet sales during the holiday shopping season.
“We believe this implies that Apple could sell 4-6 million smaller iPads in the December quarter, assuming a holiday launch,” Munster told investors on Monday. “If the launch occurs in (the fourth quarter), we believe the smaller iPad would add about 1% to revenue and (earnings per share) in December.”
A number of industry analysts, on the other hand, believe that the iPad Mini will ultimately complement iPad sales, meaning that countless Apple fans will eventually desire owning both the iPad and the iPad mini.
