Yesterday CNBC was kind enough to have me on to talk about Apple's reported plans to release an iPad-mini.
It ended up being a debate between myself and the other guest, Todd Schoenberger of Blackbay Group. He thinks Apple is making a mistake because it's chasing the smaller tablet market instead of defining it, and he thinks Apple will have its margins squeezed.
I think both of those arguments are ridiculous. Apple has defined the tablet market. It is not chasing after Amazon or Google. Neither company has sold a tablet in comparable amounts to the iPad. Apple is simply expanding its market. This is a natural evolution of the iPad.
As for margins, Apple, and Tim Cook in particular, won't sell a product that doesn't make money. If the margins are squeezed a little, then so be it. However, I think Cook, with his understanding of the supply chain will be able to make plenty of money on a smaller iPad.
Here's the full video of our debate: