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Well, the rumors were true: the iPad Mini is here.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced its latest innovation just minutes ago as part of a morning press conference in San Jose, California. As I begin to write this, Apple shares are down 0.8% for the day. Let’s see where they are by the time I’m finished.
In the meantime, here are some of the details about Apple’s newest electronic tablet:
- It has a 7.9-inch screen, and at 0.68 pounds is 53% lighter than the iPad 2.
- It has a 5-megapixel camera on the back – similar to the iPhone 4S.
- It has a battery life of 10 hours.
- It costs $329 – $79 more than the $250 starting price some media outlets had reported, but the lowest price yet for an iPad.
- WiFi versions of the iPad Mini start shipping next Friday, November 2.
So what do investors think of the new iPad? It seems like that higher-than-expected price point isn’t sitting well.
In the 10 minutes since I started writing this post, Apple shares have fallen off a cliff. They are suddenly down 2.5% – and still falling.
Typically, Apple shares go through the roof after the company unveils a new product. Now they’re going in the opposite direction. Is it a simple case of mispricing? Or have investors simply become numb to new Apple products?
If it’s the latter, that could be a major problem for the world’s largest company. We saw a similar drop in shares after the iPhone 5 was released last month – but only after the stock jumped more than 6% in a week and crossed the $700-a-share mark for the first time in its history.