Entry Level iPhone

[Macnificant]

I am trying to figure out how they plan on selling a entry and differentiating from the iPhone 5s?

I have seen the mock up of the cases and they are supposely plastic but what are you expecting on the inside?

different camera? hardware? etc

 

[ET iPhone Home]

I am trying to figure out how they plan on selling a entry and differentiating from the iPhone 5s?

I have seen the mock up of the cases and they are supposely plastic but what are you expecting on the inside?

different camera? hardware? etc

I expect, the same out of the box phones from Virgin and T-Mobile for example.

 

[IFRIT]

I'm firmly an Android guy but if these are cheap enough i might pick one of these up and see what it's like on the darkside

 

[madsci954]

My initial guess was the low cost iPhone would be sold only to poorer nations where even the cheap models are still too expensive. But, what I'm thinking now, is when the 5S goes on sale in the fall, the 5, 4S, and 4 will no longer be sold by Apple at all. And the 5 will be brought back as the low cost model, containing the same innards as the current 5, but instead of the anodized aluminium case, it will the the plastic shell.

 

[617aircav]

My initial guess was the low cost iPhone would be sold only to poorer nations where even the cheap models are still too expensive. But, what I'm thinking now, is when the 5S goes on sale in the fall, the 5, 4S, and 4 will no longer be sold by Apple at all. And the 5 will be brought back as the low cost model, containing the same innards as the current 5, but instead of the anodized aluminium case, it will the the plastic shell.

What's would be the contract free cost? Anything over $300 is not low cost.

 

[rockitdog]

My initial guess was the low cost iPhone would be sold only to poorer nations where even the cheap models are still too expensive. But, what I'm thinking now, is when the 5S goes on sale in the fall, the 5, 4S, and 4 will no longer be sold by Apple at all. And the 5 will be brought back as the low cost model, containing the same innards as the current 5, but instead of the anodized aluminium case, it will the the plastic shell.

Thats what I've read as well. The "low cost iPhone" isn't being built or meant for the US consumer base but rather Asia and European countries. I'm not expecting to see it land over here.

 

[617aircav]

Thats what I've read as well. The "low cost iPhone" isn't being built or meant for the US consumer base but rather Asia and European countries. I'm not expecting to see it land over here.

So some people just want an apple logo no matter how crap the phone is?

 

[rockitdog]

So some people just want an apple logo no matter how crap the phone is?

Not sure it's as much that as people not wanting to drop $649 on a new device if they aren't able to pay a subsidzed price. I think that a polycarbonate model would be great for a certain segment of the population (teens & older people). I love the buildquality of the iPhone as it stands now and the past versions but something more drop-proof or cheaper would be great as well for teens especially.

 

[Cody21]

Older processor and probably a lower megapixel camera.

 

[Hankster]

No retina screen
Cheaper camera front and back
Plastic body
Older processor

That's all they need to make a cheaper iPhone.

 

[jrswizzle]

No retina screen
Cheaper camera front and back
Plastic body
Older processor

That's all they need to make a cheaper iPhone.

It'll have a retina screen.....

Likely low quality cameras and last year's CPU/GPU (essentially an iPod touch with phone capabilities). And the plastic back - less precision needed with a backing that's one piece versus meticulously fitting glass signal "windows" into the aluminum enclosure of the 5.

But the reality is - they could sell the current iPhones for around $300-$400 and still make a profit, though not an Apple-sized one.

This is what it will take to compete in a maturing smartphone marketplace - lower profit margins. Though I have an idea about how they'll combat the lower margins......by releasing a larger (4.5-5") iPhone and charging $100 more for it (starting at $299). Likely similar internals to the 4" iPhone except a higher res screen = possibility of stronger GPU - it would be easy enough to combat the "increase in price" of these components however if they can make the A#X variant small enough to fit inside the iPhone - they already order those chips on giant wafers in bulk and will need them for both the iPad mini and iPad......cost to build won't go up much (especially with IGZO screens providing the higher res) and the price will, off-setting some of the margin drop on the cheaper versions.

That's my vision for the iPhone line - none of this 2 year old bullcrap. It's also smart from a marketing perspective IMO in that, regardless of the internal specs, the cheaper iPhone can be marketed as NEW whereas the 4S (and next year the 5) will always be "last-year's model".