Mini Sydney lines for mini iPad

Apple fans lined up in Sydney this morning to get their hands on the iPad mini, but the device attracted smaller crowds than at the company's previous global rollouts.

About 50 people waited for the Apple store to open, where in the past the line had stretched for several blocks - most recently when Apple launched its iPhone 5.

At the head of Friday's line was Patrick Li, who had been waiting since 4:30 am and was keen to get his hands on the 7.9in slate.

"It's light, easy to handle, and I'll use it to read books. It's better than the original iPad," Li said.

The iPad mini marks Apple's first foray into the smaller-tablet segment, and the latest salvo in a global mobile-device war that has engulfed combatants from internet search leader Google to web retailer Amazon and software giant Microsoft.

Microsoft's 10in Surface tablet, powered by the just-launched Windows 8 software, went on sale in October, while Google and Amazon now dominate sales of smaller, 7in multimedia tablets.

Unveiled last week, the iPad mini has won mostly positive reviews, with criticism centering on a screen considered inferior to rivals' and a lofty price tag. The new tablet essentially replicates most of the features of its full-sized sibling, but in a smaller package.

At $389 for a Wi-Fi only model, the iPad mini is a little costlier than predicted but some analysts see that as Apple's attempt to retain premium positioning.

Some investors fear the gadget will lure buyers away from Apple's flagship 9.7-inch iPad, while proving ineffective in combating the threat of Amazon's $US199 Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7, both of which are sold at or near cost.

Also on Friday, Apple rolled out its fourth-generation iPad, with the same 9.7in display as the previous version but with a faster A6X processor and better Wi-Fi.

Apple will likely sell between 1 million and 1.5 million iPad minis in the first weekend, far short of the 3 million third-generation iPads sold last March in their first weekend, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

James Vohradsky, a 20 year-old student who previously queued for 17 hours at the Sydney store to buy the iPhone 5, only stood in line for an hour and a half this time.

"I had an iPad 1 before, I kind of miss it because I sold it about a year ago. It's just more practical to have the mini because I found it a bit too big. The image is really good and it's got the fast A5 chip too," Vohradsky said.