Analyst predicts iPad mini launch this October

Apple with this October launch an iPad Mini to rival Google’s new Nexus 7, a US analyst has predicted.

The new device, Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves told CNet, will boast a 7.85 inch screen, carry 8GB of internal storage and retail for $299.

Hargreaves predicts sales of 10m in the last quarter of 2012 and 35.2m unit sales in FY 2013.

He also predicts that sales of the ‘regular’ 9.7 inch iPad would be cannibalised by around 25 per cent, with overall iPad sales growth increasing by over 25m in FY 2013 as a result of the launch.

IDC’s research director of Mobile Connected Devices’s Tom Mainelli added of the rumours: "If Apple launches a sub-$300, 7-inch product into the market later this year as rumoured, we expect the company’s grip on this market to become even stronger."

Google last week revealed its $199 Nexus 7 tablet, complete with seven-inch screen. It is expected to be released in July.