Will Apple Phase Out iPad 2 For The iPad Mini?

by Mike on October 21, 2012

There are only so many product lines that a company can carry before being run thin. With Apple, having the new iPad and set to launch the iPad Mini next week, the question becomes what to do with the iPad 2. There is now some speculation that the Cupertino company may in fact be considering the option to discontinue this model in favour of just two models, namely the iPad Mini and the new iPad.

According to analyst Rob Cihra, the latest addition to the iPad line-up allows the company to streamline its products into better “product tiers”. Cihra continues to say that until the end of this year, he expects sales of the iPad mini remaining strong with the company estimated to sell about 7 million of these iOS devices. In addition, terminating the iPad 2 isn’t going to be a very tough decision for Apple seeing as this tablet has now been on the market for 1.5 years. Though this may not seem like a long time, it actually is in the world of technology. Apple has tried to keep product lifecycles to around one year in length and the iPad 2 has now passed this number.

Eliminating the iPad 2 also makes it easier for Apple to better establish the iPad Mini in the market. So far, Apple’s iPod touch has a base price of $299 and features a 4-inch display. The iPad 2 with its 9.7-inch screen is $399 and of course there is the new iPad. If the iPad 2 is removed from the equation, there is now a niche within Apple’s product lineup for the iPad Mini.

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