And the logic works with servers as well as storage, as each device category continues to decrease in size, improve in capacity and performance, and reduce its power consumption per unit of work with each new generation.

FORBES: The Case for the Infinite Data Center

By adjusting its overall shipments and the volume of each unit (iPad Mini sales are now expected to outpace the full-size model), Apple is sending the message that its original stance toward seven-inch tablets was dead wrong.

FORBES: Apple Reduces 2013 Full Year Orders For iPad

Each move to a larger wafer size (required every so often to keep unit costs down) requires more expensive equipment.

ECONOMIST: Semiconductors