Apple’s Phil Schiller has defended the price of the iPad Mini, saying that consumers will be willing to pay for the quality that the smaller iPad offers over its rivals.

Schiller believes that the $329 (R2,870) iPad Mini will compete favourably with the slightly smaller but better priced Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD which sell for around the $199 mark (R1,740) thanks to its features and status as a premium product.

Speaking to Reuters he said:

“The iPad is far and away the most successful product in its category. The most affordable product we’ve made so far was $399 and people were choosing that over those devices. And now you can get a device that’s even more affordable at $329 in this great new form, and I think a lot of customers are going to be very excited about that.”

Schiller may be justified in the pricing since the iPad Mini is basically just a scaled-down version of the iPad 2, which is still selling for $399 for the 16GB base version on Apple’s online store.

Source: CNET