Metal and plastic are so 2000. Bring on liquid metal!
True. But that doesn't mean Apple should panic and make a budget phone. Short term, yes, stocks may rise. But the image damage I believe would be worse causing stocks to fall in the long term.
There's a very big reason would do this :
Look at that chart. iPad Mini, a new "smaller/cheaper/different" iPhone, Apple is starting to need these things. The problem is that iOS devices are now over 70% of Apple's revenue. The "one model" strategy works as long as the market is showing good growth numbers, but alas, markets don't just grow indefinitely, they reach a point of maturity. The smartphone is probably getting there pretty soon and competition is getting vicious. A market with close to no growth and vicious competition will require Apple to diversify its offering in order to keep up its market share.
To keep showing growth to please shareholders, Apple basically has to do this before its too late. The iPad Mini was a similar move, open the doors to new growth possibilities for Apple, at the cost of some cross-model canabilization. Best to steal 3 million of your own sales and 2 from the competition than simply losing those 2 million sales, especially when your revenues are so dependant on the segment.
The only other possibility for Apple at this point to keep their growth rate would be to launch into yet another segment and be successful (TVs could be a possibility here, so could wearable computing like glasses/watches). Apple has reached maturity in many of its segments already (online services where it struggles with lackluster offerings/the traditionnal computers that is a very mature market with very small growth if not contractions from time to time) and the iPod is showing signs of dying off as a relevant revenue generator (and you can forget about growth in the segment if the trends of the last few years remain constant).
Uh ? Apple has been making "low cost" since forever to expand its market presence in segments that become near saturation point. 999$ MacBooks, then MacBook Airs, iPod Minis, Nanos, Shuffle even for that under 100$ PMP. The Mac Mini for a presence in the 500-1000$ desktop market.
The iPad Mini...
What Apple doesn't do is razor thin, cut throat margins. When Apple enters a low cost segment of a market, it does so at the higher end of the low cost segment and makes sure to keep its margins high.
Metal and plastic are so 2000. Bring on liquid metal!
so.. they didn't sacrifice quality when making the ipad mini?
"every product that Apple creates, we consider using only the best technology available. This includes the production pipeline, the Retina display, the unibody design, to provide the best product to the market."
Every product? Man the iPad mini has a nice retina screen.....oh wait
Are you saying the 3GS wasn't quality built ?
Can you name a currently popular phone in the under $200 target market range that doesn't have a plastic or polycarbonate body?
Apple has no choice but to go cheap if they want to be able to compete in the future. Deal with it.
Yaaaawwwwwn..... So, Phil confirms the obvious. Apple does not do cheap.
I'm guessing they'll just sell the iPhone 4 and 4s as their "cheap" alternative. They already do in other markets so why do something different in China????
Samsung GSII phones, Motorola Driod X, etc..all had same issue. Funny, media sensationalized it, Apple had to respond(apples fault right?) no.. But they sure had to fix it, even though several generations of older phones had the same problem..
Someone wanted to 'Gate' the issue for sensationalism's sake.
I had an iPhone 4, my parents did, my co-workers did.. never had the issue any worse than others with Samsung or Motorola Phones of the time. my GSII, when I read about it, had the EXACT same issue in the lower corner in-fact, when I tested it on my new iPhone 4. I was worried when I was switching to the iPhone..
It's all hype imo unless it impacts me directly now.. Everything is just to get traffic clicks and stock manipulation as far as I'm concerned. Cynic.. I know.
Apple has no choice but to go cheap if they want to be able to compete in the future. Deal with it.
Don't get me wrong. I don't defend other companies. There is no perfect design in real world.
The 16GB iPhone
You forgot the antenna problem
No ****.
You'd have a severe mental illness if you think Apple will go from metal to plastic.
I'd be disgusted.
Sporks are pretty bad a**.
I have pretty good sized fingers and still don't want a screen that big in a smart phone. It's not practical imo
Hahaha, you are so wrong. Apple get 80% of all the mobility market profit.
Why do you think that Samsung want to increase their margin ?
To be able to compete in the future ...
On the other side, if they start to build crap products, their image will be broken and people won't see any reason to buy expensive products anymore.
Blackberry 10 will be released very soon and that will send shivers down Apple Back.
You forgot the antenna problem
They've use plastic before and it was ooohh ahhh "Magical"
Apparently you havent read the news about carriers are selling out of preoders of the new Blackberry 10. I suggest you start to read before posting your info.
http://bgr.com/2013/01/10/blackberry-10-demand-analysis-287451/