iPad Mini Sees Tepid Demand : Poll

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In a surprising result, only 43% of respondents to a poll from TheStreet said they would definitely buy an iPad Mini should Apple (AAPL) decide to make one.

Rumors of a smaller tablet have persisted ever since Apple released its original iPad in 2010, but now the rumors are coming fast and furious and analysts have begun to include them in their projections. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster recently wrote in a research note that Apple could sell 4 million to 6 million "iPad Mini's" in the December quarter.

Despite the robust projections provided by Munster, only 43% of the 815 people who responded to the poll said they would "buy anything Apple related."

A large percentage of respondents, 28%, agreed with former CEO Steve Jobs in that a 7-inch tablet was "dead on arrival." On a quarterly conference call in 2010, Jobs was dismissive of 7-inch tablets. "One naturally thinks that a 7-inch screen would offer 70 percent of the benefits of a 10-inch screen. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth ... The reason we [won't] make a 7-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit [a lower] price point, it's because we think the screen is too small to express the software."

Meantime, nearly 29% of poll respondents said they needed to see what Apple had before making a decision. Other companies such as Amazon (AMZN), Barnes & Noble (BKS), and Google (GOOG) are currently selling the smaller form-factor.

Shares of Apple were edging higher in Monday's session, rising less than 1% to $610.51.

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--Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York

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