Another teardown of the new iPad Mini revealed that Apple's Bill of Materials (BOM) for the compact tablet amounted only to $US188, affirming the tech giant's intent to pocket as much profit as possible from the gadgets it rolls out.

A report recently issued by research firm IHS showed the U.S.-based company is poised to enjoy significant profit boost from sales of the Mini, which analysts said would likely sell at least one million units by the end of 2012.

Based on calculations by IHS analysts, Apple enjoys a margin profit of at least $US140 for the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad Mini, a hundred dollar premium from what Google rakes in with the Google Nexus 7 and significantly a lot more when compared to Amazon's Kindle Fire, which reportedly reaches consumers hands with no margin at all for the giant online retailer.

Alluding to the IHS report, AllThingsD said Apple is netting more should consumers opt to get higher configurations of the iPad Mini, with the 64GB model providing a margin of $US162.

The iPad Mini started selling on Nov 2 and seen as Apple's attempt to arrest the gains achieved by its nearest competitors in the 7-inch plus screen size tablets.

By introducing the Mini, Apple was forced to adapt to market dynamics this time, which is a departure from previous years when the company normally dictated the trend as attested by the creation of the tablet market with the unveiling in 2010 of the first iPad.

Apple's iPad remains the dominant tablet but its market hold has whittled down to over 60 per cent this year from the impressive 80 per cent in 2011, analysts said, strongly indicating that rivals who were previously grappling with ways to compete with Apple were now fast catching up.

Reviews of the Mini have been favourable so far but Apple attracted intense complaints for refusing to level its new gadget's price to that of the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire, a move that analysts said could in the end backfire for the tech titan.

Apple may have intended to unleash a killer gadget in the iPad Mini but that effect was largely muffled by its high price, which could easily prompt buyers to take as second look on alternatives and skip on the brick altogether, analysts said.

It is not remote that the company would in the end regret its approach attached with the iPad Mini, which by its pedigree alone would have reduced its rivals into mere niche players.

But Apple chose to ignore that chance, analysts said, leaving the next Mini to determine if the tech giant would heed its killer instinct that time around, which is likely to come on Q4 2013.