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Bit off-topic but a serious question (not flaming):

Even if the iPad Mini does cannibalize iPad sales (I'm sure it will cut into a percentage, but ultimately add to overall numbers/revenue), how will this possibly hurt Apple?

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They need to sell around 1.5 or 2 iPad minis for every iPad they are replacing. They've already sold 100M iPads. They sold 14M ipads this last quarter, can the market support 22M to 28M iPad minis? I doubt it, but my guess is that a lot of people will go for the iPad mini because people don't want a tablet, they want an iPad, and they don't care which one it is. The fact that it's exactly the same but smaller and cheaper means most people will buy this, in my opinion.

But it's the same as an iPad2, not an iPad (Retina).

I think you are right that people will buy this because it's cheaper and smaller, but those are the people that would have purchased an iPad2 because they "don't want a tablet, they want an iPad, and they don't care which one it is."

In my mind the Mini is a replacement/upgrade on the current iPad2 (at a similar price point) and the full-blown Retina iPad will continue as the flagship of sorts.

The smaller size just means the Mini fits a niche that the previous offerings didn't.

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