When Apple release their upcoming 7.8 inch ‘Mini iPad', competitors will be forced to drop their prices to snag a percentage of the market. Industry rumours circulating in Taipei today have indicated that many companies will drop the prices of their tablets by up to 40%-50%.

Apple will have a huge impact on the 7 inch tablet sector, with many people clamouring to pick up a cheaper, smaller, lighter iPad running the latest version of iOS. Analysts already suggested that other companies will need to be extremely aggressive with their pricing to get a small percentage of sales, but we are hearing from industry insiders that many companies are already working out a strategy to drop their hardware prices, just as Apple release their new model.

Still no firm indication as to when Apple will release their ‘Mini iPad', but we would expect a Q4 release, to target the holiday season end of year. The Mini iPad won't have a retina screen, and will have lower specification hardware inside, but the price will be significantly lower than the current ‘full size' model.

Kitguru says: Apple will force their competitors to reduce pricing. Not a bad thing for the consumer. Might be best waiting until you can pick up a bargain.

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