Based on news that iPhone 5 production started in China we can assume that iPad Mini release date can be this October as well. And it is not strange. The rumors about iPad Mini have been soaring in the air for a long time. Every month (every week from now) we hear something new about it but there is still no clearness concerning release date. However as thinking logically there is no way for Apple company to postpone iPad Mini release date. Looking at such IT giants as Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Amazon and their new (updated) gadgets, Cupertino company can't be out of the game. On Friday Google began shipping Nexus 7 which is smaller and less expensive as iPad. Also Microsoft announced that it would develop his own tablet named Surface. And I'm not talking about Amazon's Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Tab. According to the New York Times Apple want to keep the lead on the tablet's market iPad Mini release date can really be this October t0 compete with companies mentioned above. And smaller will be not only the sizes but the price too:

The company is developing a new tablet with a 7.85-inch screen that is likely to sell for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad, with its 9.7-inch display, according to several people with knowledge of the project who declined to be named discussing confidential plans. The product is expected to be announced this year. Apple’s plan for a tablet with a smaller screen is part of a textbook business strategy: to lure customers who want different sizes of tablets into the iPad product family, say analysts and technology industry executives.

As you see iPad Mini release date can really take place this October together with iPhone 5, iOS 6 and many other technical novelty. It has to be this fall. There is no time to wait because people that are going to buy some device they can choose cheaper Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle Fire or even Surface from Microsoft. So Apple need to hurry up and release iPad Mini this fall.