IPhone Mini should do it.
----------
Let carrier shops and grey importers take care of that.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple to Discontinue iPhone 5 Alongside Launch of 5S and Plastic Models?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
IPhone Mini should do it.
----------
Let carrier shops and grey importers take care of that.
I'm surprised no one is speculating about collapsing the ipod touch and entry level iphone into a single product. This might make the most sense for those that want to use the ipod touch as a voip phone.
Last edited:
There's little evidence to suggest that demand for iPhones is price elastic. In fact, the bulk of the research--and historical data--suggests the opposite.
Also, "incredibly profitable" just doesn't cut it if you're on Apple's business team. Margins have been declining, and that more than anything is the reason they stock has been hammered. Revenue has been up slightly, but much closer to flat than the exponential growth they've seen in the past. As for the iPad Mini, an ongoing concern has been cannibalization of the flagship product. The counter-factual is difficult to map out, but it may not be such a great thing for the company.
The iPod revenue is down to only 2% of turnover. Yet makes up so many, many models surely it's line is also due for real shake up. Even at 2% with a jump at xmas there can't be that many iPods including the Touch being sold. They could kill off vast part of the iPod family.
I guess Apple make a good move. The different between Low end ( Plastic ) and high end ( Premium ) iPhone is not just the Plastic and Aluminium build. I think is Fingerprint Sensor hardware inside iPhone build. Low End iPhone will be like current iPhone with 8mp Camera, previous processor and ram with no Fingerprint sensor. high end iPhone will have latest hardware 12mp Camera with fingerprint sensor. This is make sense to differentiate 2 iPhone hardware feature not just Plastic and Aluminium. If I'm buyer I can easily choose which I prefer. Low end iPhone suitable for youngster becoz of budget and for adult they need more security for their phone so Fingerprint sensor will give more for them.
It would have to be cheaper then the iPhone 5 would be along with being of the same quality at least. (If cheaper then the iPhone 5 would be they can get away with different things) I thought this was mostly for other counties as there are better deals here and I don't really see the point of worrying about a hundred dollars with a two thousand dollar phone contract.
Apple has said it will, although since iOS7 is not final yet, that's subject to change. Frankly, it shouldn't, because the iPhone 4 GPU is really underpowered, even compared to the now-old 4S. It might run iOS7, I doubt it will run it well. As a developer, I'm praying for the iPhone 4 to die a fast death, it's a PITA to develop for. Would be great to have just two models for this generation: the 5S/6, and the "Color".
I agree.
To me, I follow tech news every single day. It's in my blood. I know the difference between the 4, 4S, and 5.
I took my girlfriend into a Sprint store a few months ago to help her buy her first iPhone ever. She's a smart, well-educated professional, 33 years old, and I consider her pretty well-informed with general news...
...until she waltzed in and wanted the iPhone 4 because it was free. I explained to her that the 4S and 5 have more features, will last her longer with OS updates, offer Siri virtual assistant, turn-by-turn, etc.
"But it's still an iPhone, right?"
I ended up just giving her $100 to buy a 4S. As a geek, I couldn't allow it.
For the people commenting on this forum, the iPhone models are obvious. For the non-techies out there, many people really have no clue. I don't think it's a bad idea to offer two simple choices: a cheaper-material but still powerful iPhone and a higher quality material, most powerful iPhone.
----------
Well, I hope they make the standard 32GB, going up to 128GB...but you're probably right.
This would be INCREDIBLY simple to the common, non-techie consumer.
The recent stock hammering has nothing to do with the margins. There's little if any evidence to suggest that that's the cause for Apple's stock dropping 50% since last September.
In reality, a large share of that is that the markets have less confidence about Apple's future under Cook's stewardship. I'm not saying he's doing a bad job, just that the markets were more confident about the future with Steve Jobs in charge and before the Apple Maps fiasco and while Apple's competitors were not as strong as they are today.
The demand for everything is "price elastic". The iPhone is not some magical device that defies logic or mathematics; the iPhone is a particular model of smartphone and the evidence suggests that cheaper smartphones sell a lot more units.
Apple needs to find the right balance between price appeal and profit-per-unit (i.e. margin) in order to maximise their profit. That balance will change over time as the market changes and the price appeal changes. Right now, the iPhone is quite simply overpriced; it's price is so high that it does not appeal to non-contract buyers.
In the US, contracts are still strong. In Europe (and elsewhere), they're not and Apple's market share is much, much lower.
So i dont get it...why plastic production, through the years they want and they get rid of it from almost all the products.
cheap ipod touch aka ipod nano, aluminium body
cheap ipad aka ipad mini, aluminium body...
cheap Mac aka mac mini now is aluminium body
why the hell with theirmost beloved product aka iphone will make cheap iphone plastic body??
This will be Apple product or they will put under another brand? Like Ferrari and Fiat
cheap ipod touch aka ipod nano, aluminium body
cheap ipad aka ipad mini, aluminium body...
cheap Mac aka mac mini now is aluminium body
why the hell with theirmost beloved product aka iphone will make cheap iphone plastic body??
This will be Apple product or they will put under another brand? Like Ferrari and Fiat
Personally hoping for:
iPhone 5S 32GB - $199
iPhone 5S 64GB - $299
iPhone 5S 128GB - $399 (my pick)
Because plastic is:
- Light
- Durable
- Feels nice to hold in your hand
- Cheap to manufacture
- Easily produced in multiple colors
- Creates differentiation between the premium and low-cost models, without having to cripple it's specs.
You are thinking too much in terms of US plans. Not all markets subsidize phone sales. I suspect if they make a cheaper iphone, one goal would be to better address pre-praid plans and unsubsidized markets.
Who really cares what narrative the manufacturer wants to sell them? You are worrying about the wrong things if you base your lifestyle around ownership of a phone with metallic casing.
If they can replace the iPhone 4S with the cheap plastic iPhone (4"), all the supported iPhones will have 4" display. Now, that puts apple in a very good position to introduce a new screen size, say 5" for the new generation iPhone without the hassle of annoying the developers or introduce support for three different screen sizes.
Respectfully, I do stock trading for a living. Read the news stories associated with the company. It's all about margins.
No, that's a narrative that some retail investors spout off. Institutional investors--i.e., the ones that actually drive the price because they move in and out of equities in such large volumes--tend to invest much more on fundamentals. You didn't see the price decline when Jobs kicked the bucket. You saw the biggest price declines after earnings announcements did not meet the street's expectations. And in case you're wondering where they missed, it was profit. Not revenue.
Hundreds of years of basic economics begs to disagree with you. You don't even appear to understand what this term means. I'd suggest looking it up. A prominent example is luxury goods. You might also look up Giffen goods while you're at it.
If you don't have a background in finance and economics, then I'd recommend you not interject on that topic as if you know what you're talking about.
Why do you say that considering the 5S (or whatever they call it) will most likely look just like the 5.
I am referring to the surprising lack of comments re the potential demise of the iPhone5 which was only launched in September 2012.To have such a new phone so ceremoniously dumped, so soon, normally generates a wave of boos!
(All speculation,of course)
I think discontinuing the 4/4S models is a good choice because Apple's moving up in size, and, 3.5" is just not gonna work much longer. Here's my prediction thus far:
iPhone 6+ (4.5" screen)
iPhone 6 (4" screen, successor to iPhone 5)
iPhone Lite (4" screen, lower detailing, budget)
like MacBooks:
MBPro 15"/17" = iPhone 6/6+
MacBook (old white one) which was, what, 13"?
The budget iPhone will be like the old white MacBook. I figure Apple will have some colors a little more like the current Touch, at least that would be nicer, I think, than those taffy colors we've seen floating around.
I just wish the iPod Touch could have Wifi AND Cellular options like the iPad, which would be awesomeness.
iPhone 6+ (4.5" screen)
iPhone 6 (4" screen, successor to iPhone 5)
iPhone Lite (4" screen, lower detailing, budget)
like MacBooks:
MBPro 15"/17" = iPhone 6/6+
MacBook (old white one) which was, what, 13"?
The budget iPhone will be like the old white MacBook. I figure Apple will have some colors a little more like the current Touch, at least that would be nicer, I think, than those taffy colors we've seen floating around.
I just wish the iPod Touch could have Wifi AND Cellular options like the iPad, which would be awesomeness.
I basically want an iPhone with the 5th gen iPod Touch design. So much nicer I think than the iPhone 5.
Might this be a yield issue? It could be hard for Apple to make a profit selling the iPhone 5 for $99 along with the 5S the next model year. The iPhone 5 case is hard to make.
If the 5S is the top iPhone model then having the plastic ones as the less expensive alternatives with iPhone 5 guts allows Apple to make more profit per phone.
If the 5S is the top iPhone model then having the plastic ones as the less expensive alternatives with iPhone 5 guts allows Apple to make more profit per phone.