Analyst Foresees Positive iPad Mini Commercial Performance

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, the iPad Mini could affect the larger iPad's sales figures.

In a note to investors, he said the iPad Mini will have a 20 percent cannibalization rate on sales for the regular iPad.

He believes that every five million iPad Mini unit sales will subsequently result in a decrease of one million sales for the larger iPad units.

Janney Montgomery Scott’s Bill Choi, meanwhile, expects the 7.85-inch iPad to cannibalize around 15 percent of standard iPad sales. “We view the smaller iPad as mostly an incremental opportunity, but see some modest cannibalization risk to the iPad and iPod touch,” he said.

Choi expects that for the December quarter, Apple will sell a total of 25.5 million iPad units, with the iPad Mini attributing to six million of those sales. Apple has instilled enough confidence into the tablet that it has reportedly ordered 10 million units for the fourth quarter.

The iPad Mini is due to be announced on October 23, while a release date is said to follow a week later on November 2.

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