Apple rumored to counter Amazon Kindle Fire with 'iPad mini' in 2012
苹果被传明年将推出迷你iPad 迎战亚马逊Kindle Fire

Spurred by the recently announced Amazon Kindle Fire and its $199 price, Apple is rumored to be exploring a new low-cost iPad for release in the first few months of 2012.
据传受近期发布的亚马逊低价平板电脑Kindle Fire（售价199美元）的刺激，苹果将开发低端价格iPad并于2012年头几个月发布。

Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities has been touring China mainland and Taiwan and meeting with component suppliers, where he has heard rumblings of a so-called "iPad mini" arriving next year. The "mini" name doesn't necessarily refer to the size of the device, he said, but a lower entry-level price.
罗加证券公司的分析师Brian White在中国大陆及台湾地区考察并与苹果的零件供应商进行接触，他获得的消息是迷你iPad将在明年推出。不过White表示，“迷你”指的并不是较小尺寸，而是低端定位的价格。

He said such a device is expected to arrive in the first few months of 2012, allowing Apple to tap into a "more price sensitive consumer segment," and also fend off the Amazon Kindle Fire, the retailer's first entrance into the touchscreen tablet market.
White表示迷你iPad有望在2012年头几个月发布，苹果将锁定对价格更为敏感的消费群，同时也是为了对抗亚马逊Kindle Fire平板电脑。Kindle Fire是全球最大的网络零售商亚马逊进入触屏平板电脑市场的第一步。

"We believe this lower priced iPad could be priced in the mid-to-high-$200 range," White wrote in a note to investors. "We expect this will be followed by a much more powerful, feature rich standard-priced iPad 3 in (the second quarter of 2012)."
White在客户报告中表示，低价定位的iPad售价预计将在250-300美元范围内。他还预计苹果将在第二季度推出功能更强大、特色丰富的标准价格iPad 3。

If Apple were to address a lower cost market in 2012, it would come around the same time that Amazon is expected to introduce a more powerful touchscreen tablet with a larger form factor. The forthcoming Amazon Kindle Fire sports a screen size of 7 inches, compared with the 9.7-inch display of the iPad.
如果苹果在2012年进入低价消费市场，那么大概会跟亚马逊出现时间撞车：业内估计亚马逊将在2012年发布外型更大功能更强大的新一代平板电脑。即将上市的亚马逊Kindle Fire支持7英寸屏幕，比iPad的9.7英寸显示屏要小。

Still, rumors that Apple plans to release a new device with a screen size between an iPad and an iPod touch have cropped up on occasion. But White said Apple's goal in addressing the lower end market may be to build a cheaper device, rather than a smaller one.
另外，还有关于苹果计划发布尺寸介于iPad 平板电脑和iPod音乐播放器之间的新设备的传言也零星出现。不过 White认为苹果的目标是进入低端消费市场，所以可能发布价格便宜而非尺寸更小的设备。

He said a low-cost iPad could result in big sales in China and other developing parts of the world. he also believes there is a major market opportunity in developed areas like the U.S. and Europe.
White补充表示，低价定位的iPad会在中国及其他发展中国家或地区销量喜人，他也认为在美国或欧洲等发达地区，这也是很好的市场机会。

声明：双语文章中，中文翻译仅代表译者个人观点，仅供参考。如有不妥之处，欢迎指正。