Apple coming up with cheaper iPhone 4
Submitted by mark brown on August 25, 2011 - 1:24am
The rumor regarding a cheap iPhone 4 variant had also appeared in the International Business Times earlier this year but the Reuters report seems more convincing.
A desperate move
Apple is losing ground to Android at a rapid pace. While 5-6 major cell phone manufacturers are coming out with new Android phones below $200 every month, Apple’s iPhone is becoming more of a fashion statement that comes just once in a year and that too with one model. Apple never offered any variety in their models except the difference of default memory.
Apple needs to capture the large market of mid and low range smartphones to survive for a long time. Yuanta Securities analyst Bonnie Chang said, “Apple may want to push into the emerging market segment where customers want to switch to low- to mid-end smartphones from high-end feature phones, which usually cost $150-200. But I think for an 8GB iPhone 4 the price is hard to go below $200, so Apple will still need a completely new phone with low specifications for the emerging markets.”
The patent war
To destroy Google and their Android smartphone market share Apple is taking desperate steps. A war for patents is now going on in the cell phone industry. While Google bought Motorola, Apple joined hands with Microsoft and Sony to buy approximately 6,000 wireless technology patents and patent applications. These patents were earlier owned by Nortel Networks and the trio paid a whopping $4.5 billion for the patents.
iPhone 5 is on its way
The market is also buzzing with the news of Apple’s new and upcoming iPhone, the iPhone 5. There is a lot of speculation about the release date of iPhone 5. Most of the market analysts are hoping that it will be launched in October. This new handset will feature Apple’s famous A5 processor and 8 megapixel camera.
