More Than Half of iPad mini Buyers Already Have iPads

This shouldn’t come as much of a shock to anyone, but according to an informal survey by Piper Jaffray, 58% of iPad mini buyers already had iPads at home, and 75% of them planned on keeping their iPads.

This survey is tiny (72 iPad buyers), but combined with anecdotal evidence, these data could be onto something:

The small survey of 72 buyers, conducted by Piper Jaffray, seeks to profile who is buying Apple’s devices and where those sales may be trending. The firm forecasts Apple will sell 1.5 million iPad minis in its 3 day launch weekend, compared to the nearly one million small tablets per month that Google is now selling.

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster reported in a note to clients that 72 percent of his small survey of iPad mini buyers cited its compact size as their primary reason for buying the device. He concluded that this “reinforces our thesis that iPad Mini may start slower than some other product launches, but gain momentum as consumers recognize the portability benefits of the smaller size.”

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Munster’s small survey notes that initial buyers of the iPad mini represent many repeat customers. While 54 percent of iPad 3 buyers were new to iPad, only 42 percent of iPad mini were, with 11 percent reporting owning the original iPad, 23 percent claiming an iPad 2, and 25 percent saying they just bought iPad 3.

Of current owners, 75 percent said they plan to keep their existing iPad in addition to their new iPad mini. “We believe this suggests that customers purchasing iPad Minis may intend to do less video consumption and more Internet browsing/reading/app usage, which require less storage,” Munster wrote.

As I surmised before, I think Apple is making a holiday play here. They want to know how the iPad mini (and venerable iPad 2) will fit into people’s lives. I think the next month of reviews are critical for Apple to understand how to marketing to the various segments of people. I’m not sure right now how my iPad mini is going to fit into my life. My wife is getting my iPad 3 and I have to wonder if I might wind up carrying an iPad 4 and mini instead of the laptop mini combination. Honestly, I just don’t know how it will all fit together. Carrying two iPads seems a little odd to me. Sure I like to have two screens while I work, but that’s a lot of gear. I don’t know if I could write a lot on the smaller screen. But I do see myself reading on the mini while typing on the iPad 4. Crazy I know, but…who knows.

What’s your take? Who is the best target market for Apple? iPhone/iPod owners? People who don’t have a tablet yet at all? Where do you think an iPad mini would fit into your tech world?