We should be so lucky. Mobile contracts in the US are a total ripoff. Virgin Mobile and PCS are the only two that offer reasonable no-contract plans.
same here. if this were nothing more than an iPod touch with a cell radio, earpiece and relocated mic, i'd buy it.
iPhone A: 16GB, A5, 4G radio, 8MP camera, $199 on contract
iPhone B: 8GB, A4, 3G radio, 3MP camera, $299 contract free
something like that. heck to save money, just lower the price of the iPhone 4. which is more likely.
I just hope that the new iPhone that is ramping up is an iPhone 5 rather than just an iPhone "4GS". That would be disappointing, and not worth the wait.
This will be, let's say, an iPhone 4 with 8 GB of memory, no gyroscope, and no front camera. (Or something like that.)
Another way could make cheap iphone is to include no internal storage and add a micro SD card slot. not very apple though.![]()
Big microSD cards don't cost that much - I got a 32GB class 4 for $60 to put in my Android phone.
If doing this somehow shaved a huge amount of money off the cost of an iPhone... there'd be a revolt from the legions who've paid way too much for a relatively small amount of flash memory.![]()
Does anyone else's brain go to a dial tone the moment they read the word "analyst"?
Wow the USA and Canadas pre-pay market is tiny!
+1. Apple entering the prepaid market would change peoples' perceptions in the U.S. that prepaid = poor, with low quality phones to choose from. The iPhone would be the first truly desirable smartphone offered by smaller carriers in the U.S.
This would be a market changer, no question. If there were enough defections away from the big carriers' contracts, AT&T and Verizon might get off their arses and have to work for a living. It's called good old - fashioned competition. Then maybe we'd see rate plans that didn't equal monthly cable bills.
It may take a few years, but Apple could once again show another industry how a different approach could net even more profits, whilst giving us lowly consumers better products.
Just curious.... if you could rate the speed of Apple's Flash memory... how does it compare to the fastest MicroSD card?
I wonder if you could tell the difference.
currently it cost around 188 dollars to make an iPhone 4. (minus vender markups, shipping etc.)
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2010/tc20100627_763714.htm
Step by Step guide to a cheaper iphone:
1 - Ditch the Retna Display
2 - 128mb ram
3 - 256mb of storage standard and add a micro sd slot
4 - go with a slower processor
5 - Ditch all the unnecessary glass
currently it cost around 188 dollars to make an iPhone 4. (minus vender markups, shipping etc.)
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2010/tc20100627_763714.htm
Step by Step guide to a cheaper iphone:
1 - Ditch the Retna Display
2 - 128mb ram
3 - 256mb of storage standard and add a micro sd slot
4 - go with a slower processor
5 - Ditch all the unnecessary glass
Currently the 3GS + 4 couple goes by $545 and $649.AS for this $349 rumor, it's not a new phone. It's the 8GB iphone 4 that would be in line with the whole 3g+3gs, 3gs+4 that they did the last couple of times. Because component prices have come down they are going to be able to reduce the price, though my sources tell me that it's only down to $399, not $349.
Who says you need to pay for a data contract, any pre-paid voice SIM from AT&T or T-Mobile will work in any iPhone model.It's already been said but I'll say it again:
iPod Touch with a Radio.
I'd be interested in a cheaper iPhone but there is no way that I'm paying for a data contract.
Currently the 3GS + 4 couple goes by $545 and $649.
Unless Apple is able to cut costs significantly, going to $399 means either lower margins across the board or a greater price difference between the two models.
Who says you need to pay for a data contract, any pre-paid voice SIM from AT&T or T-Mobile will work in any iPhone model.
Very true and the elephant in the room that nobody is mentioning is CHINA. Tim Cook is over there now sealing the deal on a prepaid (likely) type phone that they will sell millions of. Anybody wanna bet that phone is a the cost reduced model that is being talked about? It could be an iPhone 4 but I see more profit at a lower price for them in a 3GS spec'ed phone. E.G. It will still have the A4 cpu but ditch the retina display.It'll be interesting to see what the price will be. But, and this is important, it's not so much the US they're targeting, remember only ~5% of Americans go the prepaid route, but the RoW (Rest of the World). The iPhone has proven to be the Trojan Horse so to speak when it comes to increasing market share of its computers and iPads. There are billions of people out there who could greatly benefit if they had a smartphone like the iPhone. Many of those people might eventually upgrade to a tablet or laptop.
Apple would be crazy not to target them and that means the price has to be reasonable. As has been mentioned, the cost of making it has come down, this might well be the time to lower the price.
currently it cost around 188 dollars to make an iPhone 4. (minus vender markups, shipping etc.)
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2010/tc20100627_763714.htm
Step by Step guide to a cheaper iphone:
1 - Ditch the Retna Display
2 - 128mb ram
3 - 256mb of storage standard and add a micro sd slot
4 - go with a slower processor
5 - Ditch all the unnecessary glass
This would be good. Too bad they couldn't come in at a lower price point. Imagine a prepaid iPhone for $99? Our dream would actually come true then, every human on earth would have an iPhone, all other companies would disappear, and we could bask in the euphoria of world consisting only of Apple. It makes my heart skip a beat to think that this day is coming.
Virgin Mobile! Haha
Hey, for $25 a month, you can't really go wrong especially have an iPhone too.Too bad that's CDMA though
Currently the 3GS + 4 couple goes by $545 and $649.
Unless Apple is able to cut costs significantly, going to $399 means either lower margins across the board or a greater price difference between the two models.