The arrival of the iPad Mini has been subject of rumor and speculation for several months. A ‘mini’ version of the iPad was never preferred device format by Steve Jobs who publicly ridiculed the idea during an October 2010 earnings conference call (http://bit.ly/ajnzo9).
But what does the iPad Mini mean for your business?
The iPad Mini is as thin as a pencil and weighs 0.68 pound (0.31 kilograms), half as much as the full-size iPad with its 9.7-inch (24.6-centimeter) screen. It has a lower screen resolution, same as the iPad 2, but 1/4 of the latest iPad. It does lack the Retina display. The iSight camera is smaller, yet still takes 5-megapixel photos and shoots full 1080p HD video. It has the same powerful and power-efficient A5 chip available in the iPad2 and boasts a 10-hour battery life. It offers both dual-band 802.11n Wifi and supports LTE. The new tablet starts at $329 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi version.
The iPad Mini seems more likely to disrupt the sub-tablet market for the likes of Amazon’s Kindle HD and Google Nexus 7 than cannibalize the existing 10-inch iPad market.
It offers a format factor that would require layouts for existing desktop and mobile websites to be adapted to fit its screen size and resolution.
Where we see the iPad Mini finding the most use is in verticals of retail, hospitality, logistics, education and health. All these areas can benefit from a more ‘handy’ device that offers the usability of an iPad 2but a smaller form factor which makes it more portable and easy to use.
For form-based applications, the iPad Mini offers a suitable device which may be used in hotels, transportation, retail sales and other industries which data collection is important. For these specific use cases, smartphones are too small and the 10-inch tablet is too large to be effectively used for a single-hand operation.
For DSD, Logistics and other delivery based businesses, the iPad Mini offers a tool that is portable enough to be easily carried around and still displays the lot of information on the screen such as order forms, maps, etc.
In the retail space, the iPad Mini provides the opportunity to enhance the consumer experience where sales attendants can quickly scan barcodes of products and assist customers with fashion advice or color options for items, online inventory checking and also offers a smaller, portable POS device for queue-busting and mobile checkout.
In hospitality, the use of the iPad Mini will promote the offering of concierge services, room services and simplify the check in and check out process.
In Health, doctors will find the iPad Mini suitable for reviewing patient reports and charts and being connected to the Hospital Information Systems. The sub-tablet allows them to carry the device around in the pockets and the Wi-Fi connectivity will provide them with access to up-to-date information.
We see this as a unique opportunity to tailor a variety of business focused applications for the iPad Mini which provide true business value for all of the above businesses. As per Gartner, two years from now, 20% of sales organizations will use tablets as their primary platform for the mobile salesforce (Source: http://onforb.es/VjEn8O).
Unique Computer Systems is well positioned to address business requirements and provide focused solutions with its existing set of products along with development skills and domain expertise for custom solutions to address these and a variety of verticals and business models.
To gain a deeper understanding of our products and offerings, visit our website at http://bit.ly/Sii6K9.We are open to discuss ideas and provide a free consultation to determine how we can help you seize the opportunities mobile provides your business.
