You're putting a lot of faith in a google translation of a probably out of context sound bite in Chinese.
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Pegatron Chairman Says Lower-Cost iPhone Will Not Be Cheap
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You're putting a lot of faith in a google translation of a probably out of context sound bite in Chinese.
mdelvecchio
macrumors 68040
you do realize youre responding to a RUMOR, right? they dont all come true.
and Cook is an amazing CEO of the most biggest, most profitable tech company. i dont think he's sweating the analysis of Some Dude on the interwebs.
dukebound85
macrumors Core
Some people want a cheaper iphone that can run the latest OS with all the features, not a 2-3 year old iphone that will be left unsupported by Apple in a year or two timeframe
Not hard to understand really
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Why pay an extra 30% hike when you don't have to?
mdelvecchio
macrumors 68040
iOS is arguably the most important OS today, it's done swimmingly for 5 years without a low-cost phone. so theres no logical argument to be made that apple needs a cheap phone for iOS to continue to flourish.
69650
Suspended
I would expect the iPhone Lite to replace the iPhone 4 and 4s with a similiar price of around £300 - £400 without contract. Anything below that probably just isn't profitable enough for Apple.
That's not to say they won't provide a solution for the £100 - £200 market in the future. The iPod nano and iPod shuffle demonstrate that they can make cheaper products if they want to.
That's not to say they won't provide a solution for the £100 - £200 market in the future. The iPod nano and iPod shuffle demonstrate that they can make cheaper products if they want to.
69650
Suspended
We'll see about that. I'm waiting to see what the numbers are in their next quarterly earnings report due in a few weeks. There's a lot more competition around now so it will be interesting to see how well the iPhone is selling right now.
chadley_chad
macrumors 6502
How can any iPhone now be classed as a 'luxury' item when so many other manufacturers offer better speced models (S4) and (IMO) better quality casings (HTC One). There isn't really anything that special about the iPhone other than the way it integrates with other Apple kit and it's aluminium casing ... Which I personally don't like due it it's ease of scratching, dings etc!!!
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Then it will fail when for around the same price, you can buy an S3 or S4. The iPhone (compared to other current phones) ain't that special anymore!
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Then it will fail when for around the same price, you can buy an S3 or S4. The iPhone (compared to other current phones) ain't that special anymore!
Let's say Apple follow the pattern of keeping the two older models on sale alongside the latest one.
That means this Autumn, we would have the choice between the rumoured iPhone 5s, the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S.
This would make the iPhone 4S the only Apple device on sale with a 3.5 inch display. If customers bought this on a two year contract, Apple would be obliged to support the 3.5 inch display for another two years.
The lower-cost iPhone is to replace the iPhone 4S, with its 30 pin port and 3.5 inch display. No more 3.5 inch displays and no more non-Lightning ports in their iOS line-up.
I really would like Apple to release a new phone at this price point. I would like to replace my iPhone 4 but I am unwilling to buy into another expensive contract, nor will I spend over £300 on a two year old device, no matter how good it is. The iPhone 4S looks exactly the same as my current phone and I fancy a change! 🙂
That means this Autumn, we would have the choice between the rumoured iPhone 5s, the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S.
This would make the iPhone 4S the only Apple device on sale with a 3.5 inch display. If customers bought this on a two year contract, Apple would be obliged to support the 3.5 inch display for another two years.
The lower-cost iPhone is to replace the iPhone 4S, with its 30 pin port and 3.5 inch display. No more 3.5 inch displays and no more non-Lightning ports in their iOS line-up.
I really would like Apple to release a new phone at this price point. I would like to replace my iPhone 4 but I am unwilling to buy into another expensive contract, nor will I spend over £300 on a two year old device, no matter how good it is. The iPhone 4S looks exactly the same as my current phone and I fancy a change! 🙂
I agree mostly. One thing I don't see happening is a non-Retina screen. On a phone sized screen Retina is easy to do and even the lowly iPod Touch now has a cheap 16GB version with the Retina screen. It is possible a TN version could save them some money but I really think the non-Retina days are over with non-iPad iOS.
You are still thinking that the united states *IS* the world? No, not even close. Most of the iPhones are sold unsubsidized.
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When people say "cheap plastic", they don't mean that "plastics are cheap", they mean "the cheap category of plastic". That's what Samsung uses. Got it, you web commenter get paid by Samsung for your posts?
They clearly said $400. And that is competing. And I think well see an option set lower than that.
johnny5k
macrumors member
If this happens it'll be $399 or more likely $449 off contract (and $0 on contract). Apple doesn't compete with the low-end market, and doesn't want to cannibalize too much of their high-end marketshare, so they wouldn't go lower than that. The new 'cheap' model (if it's announced) will replace the 'old' model phones Apple's been selling for free and $99 on contract. It'll have a lot of the same hardware as the 4s/5, but with some tweaks to make it cheaper (no LTE, cheaper or no back camera, simplified case) and a cheaper manufacturing process, and that will make it worth the R&D to build a separate device. They get rid of 3.5" screens and the old dock port for good, and people will be much more likely to buy a cheaper *new* iPhone than a discounted 2-3 year old model that will soon be unsupported.
Of course this is all just guesses, but at least decently researched & carefully considered guesses. The only guarantees I can make (with *nearly* 100% certainty) are that they're *not* going non-retina, or putting iOS 6 on it, or pricing it lower than $399.
Of course this is all just guesses, but at least decently researched & carefully considered guesses. The only guarantees I can make (with *nearly* 100% certainty) are that they're *not* going non-retina, or putting iOS 6 on it, or pricing it lower than $399.
Reason077
macrumors 601
I think you're missing the point.
Imagine if Apple only offered high-margin, expensive Mac products like MacBook Pro and Mac Pro. No cheap iMac, Mini, or MacBook Air. If you wanted anything cheaper then you'd have to buy last years model.
That is what the current iPhone product line is like. There is definitely room for a cheaper, mid-range product offering that sits below the top-of-the-line 5S.
Apple have already shown they aren't afraid of cannibalising their top-of-the-line products with cheaper, lower-margin ones - if it means they can grow their overall market share. If this weren't the case, products like the iPad Mini, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini wouldn't exist.
Giuly
macrumors 68040
You haven't been around for the iPhone 3G/3GS, have you? Or polycarbonate MacBooks, the white Apple keyboard, Mighty Mouse, Magic Mouse surface, PowerPC iMacs, PowerMacs, any MacBook Pro/Air keyboard etc. pp. All are plastic, and all are high-quality devices. Plastic and cheap look and feel isn't something that's mutually exclusive.
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No, but assuming that the United States is the country in which most people subsidize Iphones, then you would see why my question would be more so focused on the United States. If not, I would not have made a big point about subsidizing.
7thson
macrumors 65816
I really hope those aren't the colors of the finished products. As far as specs go, all bets are off. Apple could reasonably release an iPhone stripped of 4g and retina display,and with minimal storage (8gb). If this is for emerging markets only, then they could still make their money, but the margins might tighten up a bit. One thing is for certain, it's going to have an Apple logo on it, so people are going to want it.
danakin
macrumors 6502
My thoughts exactly. A new, less expensive, iPhone homogenizes the lineup and does away completely with any current item's use of the 30 pin connector.
The only fragmentation across the iOS lineup will be the aspect ratio of the phones and the tablets.
Frankly, this makes complete sense to me.
Maybe Apple wants to kill off the older 3.5" models pronto to prevent fragmentation with a view to establishing the 4" as the standard for devs to concentrate on and possibly sneaking in a larger screen and yet another resolution to develop for. The fewer resolutions that devs have to deal with the happier these will be. More/better apps is the iPhone's selling point right now.
Right now iOS7 is being made available right back to iP4, but I would be wary of making that move with mine remembering the groans when iOS6 turned the 3s into a slug. iOS8 probably won't work with any screen under 4".
loon3y
macrumors 65816
how obsolete is the iphone 4 even now?
its laggy, and with iOS7 if its even going to support the 4 will be atrocious,
4/S will be laggy as well on it too, it will be like a 3GS (which i still have, that i used for development) on iOS6, its extremely laggy.
these cheaper models are going to cheaper but still be able to handle the new iOS,
thats basically it. a cheaper option that isnt an older phone thats going to be laggy,
i dont know why you guys are arguing over it, its pretty quite simple. something cheaper that is up to date and handle the new iOS
Oh... I get it now. Samsung uses cheap plastics for their phones but Apple is going to use expensive plastic so that means that Samsung's phones will still be cheap but Apple's Cheap Plastic phone won't be "the cheap category of plastic" but they will be Cheap.
So, using your logic (for lack of a better word) Samsung doesn't use cheap parts in iPhone's or Mac Computers but does use cheap parts in their own phones and computers and that makes them cheap.
Your Logic fails.
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Apple is about to get the new chips from TSCM in house, so it makes sense to drop the 4 and 4s that use the old dock connector, small size screen, and Samsung processors... The iPhone 4S is to fragile to be a "starter" phone, all that glass means repairs are they the roof versus going back to a plastic frame.
I'd expect the new guts to be inbetween iPhone 4S and 5, probably the processors that didn't tape out at speed for the 5s. The point would be "brand consistency" for Apple's devs, not strictly a cheaper price phone.
"Subsidized" is almost $350 now. So that $199 iPhone 5 is really $549 retail. But if Apple merely got the price of this "cheaper" iPhone to $350-$400, that's $99 or "free" with most contracts... Or in striking distance for getting the customer to pay cash at T-mobile.
The motivation is to push the 3.5" screens off the markets a year early, and probably improve ios7 performance and keep developers on track. Also a lot of people liked the 3GS because it wasn't so "jewelry fragile" (im in that group) and Apple is rotating out 3GS so that's a lot of people that might want this.