When 7-inch tablets first began emerging as competitors tried to take bites out of Apple's (AAPL 0.29%) huge slice of tablet market share, Steve Jobs decried the 7-inch tablet as an intrinsically inferior product. Is the release of the iPad Mini a flip-flop for Apple? Has Tim Cook moved against the late Steve Jobs' wishes? Or is the iPad Mini something more, emerging at a time when Apple can meet its own rigorous standards for quality in the 7-inch format? In this segment, Motley Fool analyst Eric Bleeker talks us through why Apple decided it was ready to step into the 7-inch tablet market, and why the world should be thrilled.
Why Now Is the Right Time for the iPad Mini
By Eric Bleeker and austin smith – Nov 16, 2012 at 6:01PM
NASDAQ: AAPL
Apple
Market Cap
$4.0T
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(-0.29%) $0.78
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$272.17
Price as of November 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM ET
It's Mini o'clock!
About the Author
Eric Bleeker, CFA joined The Motley Fool at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. For the next four years he led the Fool's Tech & Telecom sector, both writing articles and providing feedback and ideas to writers. Today, Eric is the General Manager of Fool.com, but still enjoys writing a tech article or two from time to time. Follow @bleekertech