Apple Inc. (AAPL): iPad Mini About Cost, or Value?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been ramping up its new fleet of devices, starting with the iPhone 5, and following up with a new iPod Touch and iPad Mini. The company hasn’t officially announced it yet, but apparently Apple Inc. (AAPL) will be unveiling the new iPad Mini in the coming days, which official release due for late October or early November.

However, it seems that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is focusing on the price of the new iPad Mini, perhaps at the expense of value in the quality of the components and features in order to gain market share away from the Kindle Fire HD by Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and the Nexus 7 tablet by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), both of which are expected to run on the Android operating system. Both of those devices are in the market for about $200, but reports are that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may cut a couple corners in order to keep the price in that range, rather than selling it for as much as $300 as some analysts have predicted.

If keeping the price low is more about being competitive in the marketplace or whether it’s a matter of developing product loyalty in a developing market space remains to be seen, as does whether any current shortcuts will translate into a quicker launch of a new device. Certainly with the small tablet market becoming very competitive, investors in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock like billionaire fund manager Julian Robertson of Tiger Management will be keeping tabs on Apple’s sales numbers in this specific space.

If some sources are accurately on the pulse of things at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), word is that the iPad Mini will be a wi-fi only device, which means it won’t link to cellular data carriers – which alone may make the device cheaper because customers will not be required to be involved with wireless carriers like Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) or AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). Another step that Apple Inc. (AAPL) is taking is using display technology  from older iPhones rather than the current Retina display that has high-definition capability.