It definately IS midrange.

the LG Optimus Black which I briefly owned is a perfect analogue:
4" WVGA screen with high contrast IPS screen
1GHz Omap3 SoC

Price, about £250 sim-free versus £450.

Hi end phones of [today] have settled on a standard of:
4.3" plus with a qHD resolution
1GHz dual-core SoC

but remember, the N9 still isn't available to buy [today], at best it will be available from Oct and maybe November before widely available in most markets.

the standard for phones of [tomorrow] against which the N9 will spend the majority of its life competing against will be:
4.3" to 4.7" screen with a qHD to WXGA resolution
1.2GHz dual-core to 1.5GHz SoC

right now, before the N9 is even released it is an upper mid-range phone, by the time it is widely available it will be a lower mid-range phone.

it should come with a mid-range price.