Apple launched the iPad mini in November 2012 to address a portion of the tablet market dominated by Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD. The latter two Android models typically sold for around $199 (starting price), packing a lot of power, productivity and pleasure into a tight 7-inch form factor. But Apple was determined to be bigger, offering a larger screen size (7.9-inches) and a larger starting price of $329.
Because of this, it should not be surprising that shipments of Apple's iPad mini are expected to decline 20-percent to 30-percent in 2Q13. Unnamed "upstream sources" in the iPad mini supply chain are the source of the current rumor, reporting that the drop in shipments is due to a sheer lack of demand for the iOS tablet.
According to the sources, customers may be holding off on sinking their $329 into the iPad mini in anticipation for the next-generation version. They also said that Apple recently adjusted its reserves for the current model, dropping them down to 10 to 12 million units in 2Q13 compared to the 15 million units in 1Q13.
Naturally this drop in reserves will affect everyone in the supply chain, including South Korea-based LG Display which is the main supplier of panels for the iPad and iPad mini. LG reportedly expects to see combined shipments for the two devices to reach a mere 3.5 million units in April 2013, down from 5 million units in March 2013. Even more, the combined shipments are expected to drop even more to 3 million units in May and June of this year.
Still, Apple remains hopeful for 2013 on a whole, sources said, in that it may actually ship 55 million units of the iPad mini tablet by the end of the year.
Fox Business adds that Apple shares dropped fell 5.61-percent to $402.35 after reports of the iPad mini shipment decline began to surface. The report also points out that Apple generated an 84-percent year-over-year surge in shipments of overall iPads in the second quarter of 2012, to 17 million.
