A low cost iphone doesn't make sense when you consider Apple's revenue stream.
They currently foot the costs of designing the software, hardware and processors, plus maintaining their free services (push, mail, icloud, imessage, siri, maps), and their iTunes/app store is only recently starting to see a profit.
All these are not cheap, and are only made possible from the obscene profits Apple makes on each iphone...
I don't get how anyone thinks it doesn't make sense. You're thinking an inch in front of your nose, whereas Apple are playing the long game. India and China have 1/3 of the world's population, but only a fraction can afford the iPhone at it's current premium price. However, they are called
emerging markets for a reason. In 10 years or so the amount of money availablae to each individual will be far more than it is today (well, that's the theory anyway) and the ratio of iPhone-to-budget-iPhone users will have shifted in favour of the more expensive product. You might pull out the old 'just release the iPhone 4' argument but that's still too expensive for most people in those regions, and Apple wants to consolidate their line-up with the bigger screens and lightening ports.
Think of it this way...it's what other companies do when they release a new consumer product. I'm not talking about computers here, think about chocolate bars. When a new one is released you'll find company people on the streets giving them out for free, or you'll see them in the shops with 'limited time only!' or 'special edition!' on them. It's to introduce you to it. If it sells, then great. It gets promoted to full-time chocolate bar. If not, the company can fall back on it being only a limited release or special edition. While Apple won't be doing that exactly, it gives the idea of 'introduction'.
Also, if these budget iphones are capable of accessing all the features of the latest IOS and run most apps, what incentive would there be for consumers in developed countries to spring for the higher-end models? I don't mind giving up siri and fingerprint authentication to save a few hundred dollars.
Yes, but some people won't. This is where Apple would have to play this part very carefully; limiting the capabilites enough to make you still want the premium version, but not enough to make it junk. I would happily pay half price for lack of siri and fingerprint recognition stuff. That novelty would wear off pretty quick anyway; I don't know anyone who actually uses Siri these days. As for the incentive for people to buy the 'premium' over 'budget' models, don't underestimate the power of status. That is a HUGE, and incredibly subtle, incentive for a lot of people.
I, like kas32, don't care if it's made out of cardboard, if it has retina. I could afford to buy 3 brand spanking new iPhones a month and it wouldn't even dent my salary. I'm just sensible when it comes to spening my money.
Alex
