Apple Launching Larger, Low-Cost iPhone for Emerging Markets Late This Year?

[apolloa]

LOL, the iP5 looks like an eraser when sitting beside Note II

Yeap, and at CES Huawei announced their new 6.1" 'phablet', my Nexus 7 is going to start to look small.... then the iPad Mini.... all the while people will look funny holding giant phones to their heads!! haha

Nah, I think Steve was bang on with the 3.5" size.

 

[hipnetic]

Emerging Markets? As if Apple cares? Know how much money they're making selling to 1st World economies? Enough to be the richest company in the world. Who needs emerging markets full of penniless farmers and so forth.

You don't seem to know the difference between an "emerging market" and a "3rd world country." China and India are emerging markets. China buys the US debt. The US is indebted to China. China actually *makes* things (iPhones, in fact). Apple absolutely cares about catering to the Asian market, as they should.

 

[Technarchy]

Never going to happen.

I said those same words about the iPad Mini and iPad4...

Under Tim Cook who knows what Apple will get into.

 

[Tech198]

So... low cost - different exterior, in order to make it low cost would that mean no gorilla glass too ?

 

[kdarling]

So... low cost - different exterior, in order to make it low cost would that mean no gorilla glass too ?

Perhaps no retina screen either?

One thing comes to mind if the margins get thinner: Apple needs to first settle all these FRAND lawsuits, so they can know exactly what their royalties will be. Those are a big part of any phone.

Maybe they'll even finally appreciate why they're based on price, and get lower when the device costs less to consumers.

 

[firewood]

As much as I like the iPhone, I think it's overpriced.

If it were overpriced, nobody would buy it. Everybody would keep the money in their pocket or buy something else. But over 100 million people think different from that, and still give it very high customer satisfaction ratings after parting with their money.

 

[kalsta]

If it were overpriced, nobody would buy it. Everybody would keep the money in their pocket or buy something else. But over 100 million people think different from that, and still give it very high customer satisfaction ratings after parting with their money.

Did you read anything else I said?

 

[Kim Sux]

Now that I have an iPad mini I'd buy a smaller iPhone. I have no desire to go up in size, which is why I'm sticking with my 4s.

 

[Ramchi]

Hmmmm . . .

Lower cost components?
-Non retina
-Big display
-Older processor
-Minimal storage

Hey! It's the iPad Mini!!!

Indeed, it is cheaper than most of the Android Phablets already.

----------

You don't seem to know the difference between an "emerging market" and a "3rd world country." China and India are emerging markets. China buys the US debt. The US is indebted to China. China actually *makes* things (iPhones, in fact). Apple absolutely cares about catering to the Asian market, as they should.

Infact, Samsung was able to make big strides today it was because emerging markets such as India received their products (especially, SGSI,SGSII & SGSIII, Note, Note II) very well....on this foundation Samsung expanded its foot print beyond...

 

[TheNextBigThing]

Make cheap phone with a huge display, to appeal to lower class people. Sounds like Android in USA!

Do you mean those who have the Galaxy Note 2 belong to lower class? And those who have iPhone 5 belong to higher class? After all, size of the display is a personal preference.

Hmmmm . . .

Lower cost components?
-Non retina
-Big display
-Older processor
-Minimal storage

Hey! It's the iPad Mini!!!

Apple set the gross margin of iPad Mini lower than the iPhone. Because the market where iPad Mini belongs is in aggressive competition. The market for high-end smartphones is getting tighter and tighter this year given the fact that other manufacturers like Samsung introduces phones at par with the iPhone. With this in mind, Apple can also lower the gross margin of their next iPhone release.

Apple going to cover cheap markets? Please not.

Leave it to Samsung to create those cheap and ridiculous tablet sized phones.

Apple will soon realize that there is a big market for 5-6" smartphones/phablets.

lol at u people thinking an iPhone is still something thats only for the "rich spoilt brads" and "privileged" people

that may have been the case in 2007 but that has changed years ago. now everyone has an iPhone and some of those "cheap plastic" androids are just as pricey if not more expensive (u can get the iPhone 5 for 1€ on a 29€ plan here)

Well said.

Not gonna happen. An iPhone is an iPhone. Period.

And that's NOT gonna happen.

Please bookmark this page. And please come back after a Apple released a larger sized iPhone in addition to the 4", and read your comment. I think "Not gonna happen" is not a good argument.

Just watch—sometime in the next couple weeks some analyst will release a story about how Apple is suddenly doomed because it isn't entering the low-cost 5" phone market. Ridiculous.

That's why Apple will soon enter the phablet category. In this way, Apple will not be "suddenly doomed".

Is this a joke?

In other news Apple is releasing a plastic, portable Mac Pro for sale only in Sub-Sarahan Africa. Equally probable.

Apple is increasing their effort in expanding their market to developing countries where many people cannot afford the so-called "Apple premium additional pay."

1. See Samsung and others buid high-end behemoth 5+" phones, while the iPhone is 4"
2. Launch low-end 5" phone
3. See everyone start thinking that 5" phone = low-end phone
4. See the high end of the market go back to 4" phones
5. Profit

This may be genius... Discredit Samsung, LG and everyone by letting customers think that big = crappy. And give strength back to the small form factor of the flagship high-end iPhone...

Big is not always crappy. Screen size is a matter of personal preference.

this is how much size matters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNBP18nrRdw

Very nice video. 8.8 million views with 84246 likes.

I personally believe that the "one size fits all" approach doesn't apply nowadays. The sales figure of the GS3 and Note 2 doesn't lie. And iPhone will face a more aggressive competition this 2013.

I expect Apple to release a 5-6" device not later than 2014.

Just my opinion.

 

[KnightWRX]

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).

 

[iZac]

The low-cost iPhone is all ready out, it's the iPhone 4 that costs $0 with a contract. Anything else is the rumormill going full throttle with more baseless iPhone rumors.

By the way, that Note looks similar in size to the iPad mini when it's next to the iPhone 5. Why oh why would anyone really use something that might as well be a tablet as a phone? Don't people realize that those iPad mini wannabes look ridiculous when held to the ear as a phone?

I say to let devices do what they do best, in the sense of having them do what they were designed for, rather than meet at some weird in between size to satisfy the whiners.

Consider that just a few months ago, Apple repackaged some old tech and sold it in a new form factor and ... It seems to be selling pretty well! There is a stigma about buying an 'old' phone that doesn't gel well with the Apple key demographic, but whether they're making a smaller or larger version of their old hardware, consuming it in a new package is worth every penny

 

[oliversl]

Announcing a rumor, 1 year in advance and about a cheaper *and* bigger iPhone? Good luck with that!

 

[Sylon]

Right on time! There are always "bigger screen" rumors a few months before the launch of a new iPhone. Remember the tear-drop shape last year that everyone was certain was correct?

While I would love for a bigger iPhone (bigger, not longer like the ridiculous iPhone 5), I'll believe it when I see it. Rumors about Apple are never true until the keynote. We can speculate all we want, fact of the matter is: the only people that know the truth about future Apple products are the people at Apple.


Bring me a 4.5" or 5" iPhone, that is wider and not just longer, and I'll probably stay with Apple. But this 3.5" iPhone 4S, or even the iPhone 5, just isn't cutting it. My hands are too big for the damn thing.

 

[Dustman]

Apple going to cover cheap markets? Please not.

Leave it to Samsung to create those cheap and ridiculous tablet sized phones.

Because the note is such a cheap product.

 

[righteye]

Polycarbonate iPhone great, might survive the odd drop or two without cracking (i have seen so many iPhones with cracked screens its crazy)
My 3Gs has survived so much and in fact working today it fell from my toolbelt onto a tiled floor and its still going.
FWIW many of my coworkers,friends and family have jumped ship to the GS3/Note2, a Galaxy S3 sized iPhone would interest me but i really do not want to go the way of the Android.

 

[brdeveloper]

Make cheap phone with a huge display, to appeal to lower class people. Sounds like Android in USA!

Is the Note II a cheap phone? No way.

 

[KnightWRX]

Is the Note II a cheap phone? No way.

Of course it is. Geez man, it's made from plastic, you know, the same crap used in every cheap phone released for the last 20 years.

 

[sransari]

Wouldn't the best way for apple to offer a lower priced iphone to be what they've been doing and offer older models for less money than new models? that seems to be a better alternative than creating some cheesy version of their newest model.

I'm not really sure what apple can do to significantly reduce the manufacturing costs of an iphone...maybe less expensive parts, less time consuming assembly, etc.? but what are the trade-offs? probably end up with a cheap, plastic, bulky piece of junk.

i think apple generally tries to reduce costs for a given quality of product, but I don't see them reducing the quality of the product simply to reduce cost.

 

[tbjohn]

Low quality iPhone means Android quality phone? Android phones don't necessarily mean low quality, but always feel like iPhone quality is a little bit higher than android phone.

 

[firewood]

I wonder if there are some bigger but really cheap displays available that are slightly larger than 640x960 in pixels. Say, vast production capability due to some Nokia or RIM product that crashed and burned. Apple could cover the extra pixels with a plastic bezel or other window dressing, and use these displays to make a cheaper (but bigger and thicker and more rugged) iOS device more suitable for developing countries. Even cheaper than the 3GS to manufacture, but maybe using some of the 4 or 4S chips.

Apps would only see and use an iP4/4S sized window, and thus would not need any change. If it's significantly cheaper looking than an 4S or 5, then it won't cannibalize too many sales in 1st world regions. Maybe older people with poor eyesight who need bigger pixels and bigger touch targets (that a lower-dpi-res 640x960 would provide).

 

[blackcrayon]

That would be ridiculous for Apple to bring out when all competitors are bring out 5" 1080p phones now.

It would be the beginning of the end.

"All competitors" are not bringing out 5" 1080p phones for the low cost market.

 

[nick_elt]

"All competitors" are not bringing out 5" 1080p phones for the low cost market.

When has apple been about the low cost market?

 

[maxosx]

Never going to happen.

Famous last words.

Thousands of naysayers were ready to bet the farm that Apple would not cave into pressure & build an iPad mini.

Its a new era at Apple.

 

[blackcrayon]

When has apple been about the low cost market?

I never said they were. I'm not strongly advocating or validating the rumor either. I was initially simply saying it wouldn't be a problem for developers if it were to be true. And even a larger low resolution screen would be hardware competitive with other low end devices if it were to happen to exist.