There has been floating rumors that Apple will finally give in to a cheaper iPhone to gain market share. Remember that Apple was never about market share as proven with their Mac OS. You may think this might be the path Apple will be going, because when Apple first released the iPod, they later on released iPod shuffle, a cheaper alternative to listen to music. Apparently the reason behind iPod shuffle was not because of the price point, it was because there was a different market which happens to like listening to music without a playlist. People wanted to be surprised on what song would play next, they not needed to create a playlist, they just put in the music then play!
So let’s round up all the speculations floating about the “iPhone 5s” or iPhone “mini”
Walmart Announces Permanent Price-Drops on iPhone 5 and 4S. This was one of the news that recently surrounded tech blogs. the iPhone 5 will sell for $129 (down from $189) and the iPhone 4S will sell for just $39 (down from $89). To get the devices at that price will require signing a new two-year contract with Verizon, AT&;T or Sprint. There is no clear explanation why they dropped prices, it could be because of their excess inventory or possibly a new iPhone.
An iPhone mini would be copying the exact strategy Samsung is doing. After releasing Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 their mini versions also followed. I actually find it weird releasing a mini version with far lower specs. Maybe Samsung is just capitalizing on the name of S3 and S4 to gain more market share. Well Apple did a mini version of iPad, but I think the mini iPad was born because of a demand for a more “light weight” tablet.
To be able to lessen the cost they can’t remove much of the hardware because of the requirements of the iOS. Probably they would cut on the materials of the casing? something like this?
Even way before iPhone 5 was released there were already speculations that a more “colorful” iPhones would be available.
Another speculations was there would be bigger iPhone screens, 4.7 and 5.7 inch screens. Again Samsung is already doing this from S1 up until S4, bigger and bigger screen, nearing the size of the Note. The thing is Apple always “stressed” that creating bigger screens would hinder your thumb from having control of the whole screen, plus it was only in the iPhone 5 they released a bigger screen. If they created a 4.7 or 5.7 inch screen it would be a nightmare for developers and accessory makers. s
“leaked images”
So what’s it going to be? No one knows yet, they still have a couple of months before the announcement that usually takes place September or October. All we can do now is sit and wait for their announcement!
So what do you think? What’s your dream iPhone going to be?
