When someone gets hold of a rumor regarding anything Apple does, it spreads like wildfire, and the one about the iPad Mini seems to have a lot of staying power; we’ve been hearing about its expected release for a long while now. Part of the reason is that the rumored price point is a lot lower than consumers initially thought it would be–between $200 and $250–but it’s also part of an alleged move on Apple’s part to integrate the tablet and PC markets, according to a note to investors.

“A lower priced iPad [is] a necessary entry point to make the tablet market the size of the PC market by 2015 in terms of units (over 350 million units) – a figure CEO Tim Cook repeatedly mentions,” the note says.

The Mini specs vary from rumor to rumor, but most agree it will be 7.85 inches–perfect for gaming, which Apple is well aware of. And while release dates have been wildly speculated upon, the most recent word on the street is that it will be unveiled in October. However, that’s a bit close to the expected release of the new iPhone, and the company isn’t known for throwing two huge products out into the market at the same time.

Twitter, of course, is buzzing with the news.