iPad mini

A common issue often presents itself when Apple (AAPL) launches new products: it can’t build them fast enough. We’ve seen it time and time again, most recently when Apple launched the iPhone 5 and 150,000 dedicated factory workers still couldn’t keep up with demand. Now, a report has surfaced claiming that Apple’s manufacturing partners in the Far East can’t build units fast enough to keep pace with Apple’s iPad mini orders. More →

Apple’s (AAPL) fourth-generation iPad broke the company’s annual release cycle and launched this past November alongside the iPad mini after its predecessor had just hit the market in March. According to a new report from RBC Capital Markets analyst Doug Freedman, Apple may also use the new accelerated launch schedule for its smaller slates. More →

Yet another report suggests that the millions of people buying Apple’s (AAPL) new iPad mini tablet this holiday season will be kicking themselves next fall. Apple has historically left plenty of room to grow when launching new mobile devices and the same will seemingly hold true for its tiny tablet. Citing multiple unnamed sources in the Taiwan-based backlighting industry, Digitimes on Friday reports that Apple’s next iPad mini will feature a high-resolution display. Digitimes speculates that the new screen will sport a resolution of 2,058 x 1,536 pixels, yielding a pixel density of 326 ppi, though its sources did not provide any details regarding the specific panels Apple plans to use. The second-generation iPad mini will presumably hit the market next fall, however no reports have identified a firm launch time frame at this point.

Smaller tablets in the 7-inch range have been on the market for more than two years now, but it looks like it took Apple (AAPL) just one month to vault to the top of the category. Mobile advertising firm Millennial Media recently published the findings of a study pitting the iPad mini against Amazon’s (AMZN) popular Kindle Fire, which has been an extremely popular iPad alternative since it first launched last year. According to Millennial, iPad mini usage grew about 50% faster during early November than the Kindle Fire did immediately following its successful launch last year, as measured by ad impressions served by the firm’s network. More →

Either Apple’s (AAPL) reservation-only system works better than anyone could have expected, or consumers in China have little interest in the company’s new iPad mini. Apple’s tiny tablet launched on schedule on Friday but according to IDG News Service, the turnout for Apple’s new slate was minimal. At Apple’s new flagship store in the well-trafficked Wangfujing district in Beijing, for example, turnout was “nearly nonexistent” according to the report, with no lines forming at all on Friday. More →