They already do this. They use lower end processors, screens and strip out new features of the current iOS. They may all be on the same version of iOS but they are not the same. Lack of Maps, Siri are examples of Apple fragmentation. The only difference is Android updates their OS level when they add new features.
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Apple's Lower-Cost iPhone As a 'Mid-End' Device
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They already do this. They use lower end processors, screens and strip out new features of the current iOS. They may all be on the same version of iOS but they are not the same. Lack of Maps, Siri are examples of Apple fragmentation. The only difference is Android updates their OS level when they add new features.
Emerging markets? Then $349 is overkill. You are looking at $149-249 there for smartphone. Then again a $349 iPhone might be considered a luxury item in and of itself just for the Apple logo.
Now you are making me wonder what market Apple is trying to appeal to with this thing.
Replace iPhone 4S with low cost iPhone
iPhone 5S - $650
iPhone 5 - $550
iPhone - $450 4" inch screen, A5X and keep the similar internals as iPhone 4S except plastic body and 4" screen.
I would be surprised if they sell this for $350 range (nexus 4 is selling for $350 not sure if there is a need to compete at $350)
Drop iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 from the line up.
iPhone 5S - $650
iPhone 5 - $550
iPhone - $450 4" inch screen, A5X and keep the similar internals as iPhone 4S except plastic body and 4" screen.
I would be surprised if they sell this for $350 range (nexus 4 is selling for $350 not sure if there is a need to compete at $350)
Drop iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 from the line up.
If this happens I have yet to see anyone come up with any details of what features such a phone would have. The Mac Mini is different from the iMac in obvious ways, same with the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle being different from the iPod Classic or iPod Touch. Cheaper, yes, but much different feature set - Apple will continue this strategy, so I'm curious to know how the phone will function differently if they release one they sell for a cheaper price. One with not as good a display or less RAM is what they can offer with older iPhone versions - I'm not convinced that's what they plan to do, it makes little to no sense, but something vastly different I could see.
But, Apple already makes more profit than all the other manufacturers who adopt this business strategy. Companies don't change their business strategy like that unless they're desperate.
But, Apple already makes more profit than all the other manufacturers who adopt this business strategy. Companies don't change their business strategy like that unless they're desperate.
It doesn't seem right.
I don't think you are looking at 1 U shaped curve, I think it is more like 2 bell curves. Dropping a phone in the middle will only cannibalize the top end.
If Apple could produce a new design iPhone (with all that entails) and sell it for $250 or so they would start capturing the bottom end. They should also find something to justify a $850 or even $1000 iPhone since the top end seems to be well below the current price point.
I don't think you are looking at 1 U shaped curve, I think it is more like 2 bell curves. Dropping a phone in the middle will only cannibalize the top end.
If Apple could produce a new design iPhone (with all that entails) and sell it for $250 or so they would start capturing the bottom end. They should also find something to justify a $850 or even $1000 iPhone since the top end seems to be well below the current price point.
I don't get it.
Yes a crappier (cheaper) phone will boost sales. But its not like Apple need it.
I can see this only going down hill from now.
Quality, Being the Best, Performance, Pride, Thinking out of the box.
Tell me when the real Apple is back. Cause **** all these iToys if nothing better is coming!
You're acting as if an iPod shuffle and a mac mini was never made.
I agree more than disagree. Looking Apple's other product lines the mid market products end where the high-end start, with a slight overlap.
So if the high-end iphone is priced at $650-850; then the mid-market iphone will be $450-650 or even up to $699 (currently the GSIII and HTC One are around this range as well).
The part I'm not sure I agree with is 'defeating the purpose of it's existence', because I guess, the obvious purpose for it's existence is to get into the smartphone mid-market. But if the iPad-mini is a example, the general opinion was that it was on the higher end of the expected range and lower-spec'ed as well... but it turned it to sell very well.
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Once again, the iPhone 4 is still an expensive phone to make. That precision metal and glass enclosure is not cheap, its very complicated to build, and its taking a hit on their margins. The naysayers really don't seem to understand that. Metal fabrication does not get cheaper like processors do.
I don't think people truly appreciate the level of complexity involved when theyre manufacturing such a precise part at the scale of 10s of million a quarter. Its not easy, and its not cheap.
C
champ01
Guest
The Mac Mini is something different. The shuffle I could care less about.
Bought a iPod Touch when it came out because it was more then a crappy mp3 player.
uPhone
People who draw diagrams ... hmmm ... Will Apple do a cheap plastic phone?
Nope. The subsidy phone market messes up this move ... until iPhone dominance in the US slows. Follow the money; Apple gets about $450 per phone. Right now, Apple is expanding contracts with subsidy carriers, not the reverse.
Nope. Apple's strongest instinct and history is to give buyers more reasons to purchase at a premium price. Leaping into the abyss, aka Dell hell, is not in the cards. Tie this into subsidy prices and the Nope gets louder.
Maybe. Apple would need distinctive selling features that allow it to put premium pricing on a plastic phone. Possible but what? Great security. Fingerprinting. A suite of Apple apps. Passport. Dunno.
People who draw diagrams ... hmmm ... Will Apple do a cheap plastic phone?
Nope. The subsidy phone market messes up this move ... until iPhone dominance in the US slows. Follow the money; Apple gets about $450 per phone. Right now, Apple is expanding contracts with subsidy carriers, not the reverse.
Nope. Apple's strongest instinct and history is to give buyers more reasons to purchase at a premium price. Leaping into the abyss, aka Dell hell, is not in the cards. Tie this into subsidy prices and the Nope gets louder.
Maybe. Apple would need distinctive selling features that allow it to put premium pricing on a plastic phone. Possible but what? Great security. Fingerprinting. A suite of Apple apps. Passport. Dunno.
I think maybe the analysts are missing the point re the cheaper iPhone.
The key issue here is the retail price of unsubsidised iPhones. I know in the US everyone buys on contract but that's not the case everywhere. Also a number of carriers in the US have already indicated their unwillingness to continue to subsidise the iPhone to the same extent.
Ok so the current range unsubsidised cost:
iPhone 4 = £319
iPhone 4s = £449
iPhone 5 = £529 - £699
So technically Apple already has a cheaper iPhone.
I think what Apple are about to do is a change of strategy, just like they did with the iPad last year.
So instead of selling the older models at cheaper prices they scrap the older models and instead have 2 iPhones - the 4" "standard model" akin to the iPad mini and the 4.5" "premium model" akin to the iPad.
They will use all the usual differentiating factors to distinguish between them - screen size, processor, memory, etc.
It's exactly the same strategy they use on all their other products.
That way people can't simply wait a year or two and then buy last years iPhone at a considerably cheaper price or free on contract.
I think Apple are worried by the number of people still buying the iPhone 4 and 4s when they really want as many people as possible to buy the iPhone 5.
This change would stop that because you couldn't simply wait a while get the same iPhone for a lot less.
The key issue here is the retail price of unsubsidised iPhones. I know in the US everyone buys on contract but that's not the case everywhere. Also a number of carriers in the US have already indicated their unwillingness to continue to subsidise the iPhone to the same extent.
Ok so the current range unsubsidised cost:
iPhone 4 = £319
iPhone 4s = £449
iPhone 5 = £529 - £699
So technically Apple already has a cheaper iPhone.
I think what Apple are about to do is a change of strategy, just like they did with the iPad last year.
So instead of selling the older models at cheaper prices they scrap the older models and instead have 2 iPhones - the 4" "standard model" akin to the iPad mini and the 4.5" "premium model" akin to the iPad.
They will use all the usual differentiating factors to distinguish between them - screen size, processor, memory, etc.
It's exactly the same strategy they use on all their other products.
That way people can't simply wait a year or two and then buy last years iPhone at a considerably cheaper price or free on contract.
I think Apple are worried by the number of people still buying the iPhone 4 and 4s when they really want as many people as possible to buy the iPhone 5.
This change would stop that because you couldn't simply wait a while get the same iPhone for a lot less.
That would only work if there was no way but iTunes to get stuff for your phone. No netflix, no blockbuster, amazon, hulu etc. Or they could force a cut from all users that have it on their iphone. Otherwise folks could and likely would use whatever they want and they wouldn't recover any money from them.
So now it's not abut what Apple are, it's just what you care about?
Those products were aimed to be low-cost products. This is no exception.
Same here. I thought the iPad Mini was an attempt to grow the midrange market like they did with the iPod Mini, not go head on with the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7.
Apple's strategy always seems to be, release premium device, when the market saturates, release midrange device to grow the market, then enter the low end market.
With the iPod, eventually they released the shuffle, which was the true low end device.
The only way they would be screwing the carriers is if you didn't need the carrier to provide service. So if it was all VoIP and Apple insured full coverage of wifi every where or bought a cell company with full coverage and undercut everyone else's rates
Otherwise you would still need to pay ATT etc for service. So they are still getting some money off you
There's a slight distinction to be made here. The cheaper iPhones that Apple sells now are previous generations - the 4 and the 4S.
The rumor is that Apple will be introducing a new iPhone to sell at these price points instead of selling prior generations.
This could conceivably cut down on some of the fragmentation you mention.
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Speaking of distinctions, I think the phrase is "midrange", not "mid end".
Plastic
I'll just never forget the moment Steve unveiled the 3G and it was plastic. It was like all the air was sucked out of the room and then he was like "A.. and it's got these great metal buttons?!?" and then you hear a couple people hesitantly clap their hands together a couple times.
Why they would go back to plastic mystifies me, but I guess it's the "cheap", sorry "mid-end" iPhone, for "emerging" markets. So, after those markets have emerged will it then go away? Just doesn't seem like Apple would go that route, but then again, what the hell do I know?
I'll just never forget the moment Steve unveiled the 3G and it was plastic. It was like all the air was sucked out of the room and then he was like "A.. and it's got these great metal buttons?!?" and then you hear a couple people hesitantly clap their hands together a couple times.
Why they would go back to plastic mystifies me, but I guess it's the "cheap", sorry "mid-end" iPhone, for "emerging" markets. So, after those markets have emerged will it then go away? Just doesn't seem like Apple would go that route, but then again, what the hell do I know?
Internaut
macrumors 65816
Sounds appealing. If Apple can hit that price point with something functionally between the 4s and current 5, they could be onto a winner. That would put the price around $50-100 more than the mid range Android phones (the HTC One S, for example) for an iOS device with little in the way of compromise.
Not sure if I should jump at the 16GB Nexus 4 for $360, or wait for this rumored low-cost iPhone. I prefer my phone contract-free, and if they can hit the $400 or lower price point then I'm in.
I believe you can get Boost Mobile down to around $35 / month including tax after you pay ontime for a year or so. Unlimited talk/text/data. And T Mobile has a (small business?) data plan that is $10 for tablets and hotspots if you have a voice plan. The only reason I don't switch is because there is no roaming with MNVOs and I pay only slightly more with T-Mobile. ($30 or $40 with data)
4inch with iPhone 4S spec for 379$ free of contract.
Thats wat this servey is telling you. They can sell 10milion of this without any problem in the first quarter only.
In Europe you can get a montly plan for 9 euros which is 13$ with 1GB of data.
For a normal user who uses Whatsapp, Line, Facebook, Twitter, its more than enough.
Ofcourse you can get the iPhone 5 with montly plan like in the USA, you pay the 150 euros (199$) and then almost 40 euros per month for 2GB of data, some voice, and msg with 2 years of contract and many people can afford to pay 40 euros a month for their cell phone, so they go with cheaper phone or free phone and lower montly plan.
Thats wat this servey is telling you. They can sell 10milion of this without any problem in the first quarter only.
In Europe you can get a montly plan for 9 euros which is 13$ with 1GB of data.
For a normal user who uses Whatsapp, Line, Facebook, Twitter, its more than enough.
Ofcourse you can get the iPhone 5 with montly plan like in the USA, you pay the 150 euros (199$) and then almost 40 euros per month for 2GB of data, some voice, and msg with 2 years of contract and many people can afford to pay 40 euros a month for their cell phone, so they go with cheaper phone or free phone and lower montly plan.
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