Apple's (AAPL) iPad Mini Might Actually Be Good for Competition (GOOG) (MSFT)
If you're IHS (NYSE: IHS) iSuppli, the answer is 'yes.' The firm thinks the introduction of a smaller iPad will "turbocharge" the 7-inch tablet market.
Sales are expected to double to 34 million units, from 17 million in FY11. For FY13, IHS sees sales nearly doubling again, up to 67 million units.
No specific metrics for Apple's market share in the smaller tablet market were given, though IHS expects smaller devices to account for 28 percent of all tablets in FY12, moving to 33 percent in FY13.
"Just as Apple has dominated the market for 9.7-inch tablets with its iPad, iPad 2 and new iPad models, the company is poised to rule the market for 7.x-inch products, driving rapid growth of the segment in 2012 and 2013,” said Rhoda Alexander, director, tablet and monitor research for IHS. “The battle in the 7-inch space is highly spirited, with most of the other leading vendors already offering price-competitive products in this size range."
Coincidentally, as Apple goes smaller, peers like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) are shifting into larger tablets. Microsoft has already debuted its 10-inch surface tablet PC and Amazon recently announced the larger Kindle Fire HD unit.
Apple is holding a special event at 1pm EDT today. Many expected the smaller iPad to debut then.
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