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Apple to launch low-cost iPhone with 5-inch display for emerging markets in 2H13, sources say

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 · 12:00 pm · 27 Comments

“Apple will roll out a low-cost version of the iPhone for China and other emerging markets in the second half of 2013, according to supply-chain sources,” Cage Chao and Steve Shen report for DigiTimes.

“Some sources claimed that they have seen the sample of the low-cost iPhone, which will come with a larger display, meeting the prevailing trend for the adoption of 5-inch displays for high-end models,” Chao and Shen report. “They added that the low-priced iPhone will also have a brand new exterior design.”

Chao and Shen report, “Growing sales of the iPad mini, particularly in China and other emerging markets, may have served as an impetus for Apple to roll out a low-cost iPhone…”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Jax44" for the heads up.]

Categories: News, Rumor

Tags: 5-inch iPhone, China, emerging markets, iphone, low-cost iPhone, pre-paid iPhone, rumor

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Comment Feed

27 Comments

Tessellator

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:08 pm · Reply

Ooooo don’t buy an iphone they are coming out with a new one.
Yeah that’s the ticked and it will be bigger
Yeah and smaller,
And cost less
and be faster
and the runtime will be double
and it coming (x) months from now

Just don’t buy an iPhone… that’s it
That’s all you have to do
- MacHeadB
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:33 pm · Reply
  
  @Tessellator Just don’t breathe anymore that’s all you have to do
  - Predrag
    
    Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 1:12 pm · Reply
    
    MacHeadB, your sarcasm detector must be temporarily off-line.
    
    Throughout the year, we get to hear all these stories about Apple building a new iPhone which will be bigger, smaller, faster, cheaper, and it will be released in just a few months. The stories come from all sorts of sources, and the only thing they all have in common is their purpose: to fool unsuspecting potential iPhone buyers into waiting until this purported new iPhone eventually arrives, or (much more likely) to not bother waiting for the iPhone and instead buy an Android phone that is already cheaper and bigger (or smaller).
    
    Most of the time, these stories sound like they have been dutifully paid for by Apple’s competitors.
    - Weekend
      
      Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - 5:25 am · Reply
      
      I believe you are absolutely off-base. The iPad mini was not coming too. Right? There will be other iPhones in other form sizes and configurations. It’s inevitable.
      - Predrag
        
        Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - 10:14 am · Reply
        
        What you’re talking about is something else. There are distinctly two types of stories / rumours. One type is the rumours for products that eventually come out, the other is rumours spread out by competitors (or fans of competition, or Apple haters), which are meant to disrupt purchase intentions for Apple products. It is usually quite easy to tell the difference between the two. The first kind often comes from more than one independent source, and is usually corroborated by one or more of the more reliable Apple fan sites. The other kind will always seem to come from some obscure “analyst” or blogger.
        
        The rumour in question here easily falls into the second category. As I said, the purpose of such fake rumours is to dissuade general consumers from purchasing an iPhone (or another Apple product) right away, and (even better) to get them to consider a competing product.
currentinterest

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:11 pm · Reply

I posted this elsewhere, but it may be worth repeating, in developing countries a large smartphone may serve two purposes. It is both a phone and a small tablet. Such a large phone and small tablet may have drawbacks where people can afford both devices, however, it is an economical way for a person to, in a sense, have both. Think of it more as an iPad nano with phone capabilities rather than an iPhone. It may happen, but not quite in the way most people think.

On the other hand, this could be a Foxconn produced phone for another manufacturer. Doesn’t Amazon use them?
- disposableidentity
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:31 pm · Reply
  
  I think you’re exactly right. It may be the only computer a person will ever own.
  
  Over here in the West? I’ve got a Mac or iPad on just about every nightstand and coffee table in the house. I’d like to keep my iPhone easily pocketable, please.
ragarcia

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:14 pm · Reply

Dumbest rumor ever.
- StL
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 2:52 pm · Reply
  
  Just as dumb as that mini iPad rumor. It’ll never happen.
  - derss
    
    Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 3:53 pm · Reply
    
    My take is that this bigger “iPhone MAXI” is not going to be any cheaper than regularly sized iPhone, and it might feature Retina^2 screen (with “photo”):
    
    http://d-rs.livejournal.com/983.html
Dave

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:19 pm · Reply

People, it is DigiTimes. Try to forget you wasted your time reading their foolish nonsense.
Rex

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:28 pm · Reply

Can we quit publishing digitimes and commercial times stories as front page news? It’s always BS. There’s no point.
- althegeo
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:34 pm · Reply
  
  Of course there is a point. STOP BUYING THE iPHONE 5!!!!
  
  Reading it on MDN is not the problem. Seeing it in newspapers, hearing it on radio and watching it on TV is the problem
  - silverhawk1
    
    Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 6:12 pm · Reply
    
    Correct. On the iPhone, press the Stock app and press on AAPL. There are four stories citing this information.
Alex

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:29 pm · Reply

There is no way in hell this will happen. Apple sells high-end products with high value and high margins to people who also buy apps, music, movie etc. These same people also love the Apple platform and buy Macs, Apple TVs, iPads and Time Capsules. They will never make a low end product with small margins to people who can’t afford a book, song or other Apple product. Let Android dominate the zero profit market segment.
- disposableidentity
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:35 pm · Reply
  
  And then they made the original iBook. It opened up a huge new market, but was so cute and chunky it would never cannibalize sales of PowerBooks in the professional market.
  
  Apple could find a way to give the developing world “the only computer they’ll ever need to buy” and still keep pumping out high-end special purpose Mac/iPad/iPhone devices for people who can afford three or more devices.
  - Predrag
    
    Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 1:16 pm · Reply
    
    The original iBook was twice the price of the cheapest (then new) Windows PC notebook. You couldn’t get the iBook for less than $1,000, while you could get an Acer for $500 (obviously, not the same). The point here is that the original iBook was never meant to compete with the low end of the price range; it was meant to be the cheapest home and student Mac out there, which it was (until 11″ MBA was released).
    - disposableidentity
      
      Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 1:48 pm · Reply
      
      My point wasn’t that the iBook was designed to tackle the lowest of the low. Or compete with Acer. Or open up new markets in the developing world.
      
      My point was that Apple can design compelling new products that can be sold at lower price-points than their existing products, while minimizing the new product’s impact on sales of their more expensive product lines (because of a few well-considered design and specification decisions).
      - thethirdshoe
        
        Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 2:11 pm · Reply
        
        Apple will not create a new product with a lesser experience than the current product.
        All the people that say that Apple NEEDS to make a cheaper product are idiots AND cheapskates.
        
        thethirdshoe
        
        Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 2:13 pm · Reply
        
        And they sure are not Apple’s target market…
        
        disposableidentity
        
        Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 6:40 pm · Reply
        
        Well, the original iBook was a cheaper product, but it didn’t offer a “lesser” experience. For people like me, it provided a fantastic experience at an affordable price-point.
        
        Anyway, there are billions of people in developing countries who will never, ever, need to own a “PC” (a desktop or laptop computer of any kind). They will all own a mobile phone. Many of these people would be more likely to buy an iPhone if it was a little closer to an iPad in size.
        
        The “compromise” is that it’s a little too big (for me, personally). But that might be the right compromise for that particular group of users.
        
        keembo
        
        Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - 12:19 pm · Reply
        
        Apple will copy Samsung’s larger format and go with 5″ screen in order to remain relevant. Although not an Apple basher, I find it unique that Apple may do exactly what Mr. Jobs laughed at, and that is make a larger phone. For those saying that Samsung makes these phones at no profit might looki at Samsung’s latest financials. Owning both an iphone and Galaxy Note II, I will tell those badmouthing Samsung that their Note II shames the iphone 5 as far as I am concerned. I wish both companies well.
- althegeo
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:37 pm · Reply
  
  That’s the ticket. Apple can release a crappy Android phone for the masses.
  
  What? It’s already been done?
RP

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 12:41 pm · Reply

Real or not, it’s actually a brilliant idea. A multipurpose computer for those that can only afford one form factor. It makes far more sense than an iPhone “mini” Heck I want one.
- R2
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 2:18 pm · Reply
  
  A larger iPhone would indeed be welcome, but the way this story framed the product is unlike Apple. It could only become a “low cost” phone after it’s been on the market for years, starting life as a high end model.
SuperKmart

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 1:09 pm · Reply

Yeah and water is wet. More prognosticating designed to stop people buying what they can have in their hands today. Why would Apple make a cheap piece of junk and make no money. Let SamDung do that. If people want a quality engineered and designed solution you buy Apple. If you are cheap the you can get one free from you phone company and if not free at least two for one or three for one. Yes Apple will have a new phone and yes it will better faster than the previous model and water is wet.
- Allen Walters
  
  Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 5:54 pm · Reply
  
  “Why would Apple make a cheap piece of junk and make no money. ??
  
  Maybe they are looking ahead as volume production, automation, and cheaper component availability inevitably make a 5″ smartphone much less expensive than todays cost of smartphone production??? Inexpensive doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. And the first phone maker to hit the market would win major “mindshare” and consumer gratitude.