Apple shares fall on big price of new mini tablet

Apple’s new iPad mini doesn’t come with a mini price tag.  The opening $329 price for the smaller, lighter version of the full-sized iPad weighed on Apple as Wall Street fretted that it left too much leeway for cheaper tablets to compete, the NY Post writes..

Analysts were expecting the iPad mini to price for less than $300 — with the consensus in the $250 range.  What’s more, top-end versions with 4G wireless will cost $659.  Within minutes of revealing pricing, Apple’s stock fell from $630 to about $617 — sucking more than $12 billion from market cap. The shares closed down 3.26 percent at $613.36.

The big concern is that Apple isn’t taking direct aim at competitors such as Google and Amazon, whose sub-$200 tablets continue to attract budget-minded shoppers.  In particular, Barnes & Noble, the maker of the $249 Nook tablet, got a nice boost from the mini’s bigger-than-expected price tag. Shares of the bookseller rose dramatically at the same time Apple’s share price fell. The stock closed up more than 6 percent at $15.32....

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