Just when you thought the rumor would be beaten down and put out of its misery for good, considering Apple offers free, cheap ($99.00), less cheap ($199.00), and expensive unlocked phones ($699.00) depending on carrier subsidy, “cheap” iPhone rumors are back in the news again. This time, the rumors are coming from Gene “Apple Television Is A Real Thing” Munster.
Speaking at the IGNITION conference, Gene Munster was pretty adamant that Apple would figure out how to make cheaper, high-quality phones for emerging markets like India. According to Munster, Apple could release a sub-$200.00 phone in the next calendar year. Margins would be more in line with the iPad, and it would be smaller than current iPhone models.
Cheaper, smaller, faster, and Retina-ier seem to be the order of the day for Mr. Munster, who also managed to prognosticate about the iPhone 5S, NFC chips, thinner iPads, and new iPad minis in 2013. All of which is painfully obvious, with the exception of NFC chips.
We’re not buying NFC chips in iPhones just yet. Given Passbook’s success so far, we’re not entirely sure why Apple would need to integrate NFC with their devices. We’re kind of beyond that technology at this point in the iOS ecosystem.
Anyway, according to Gene Munster, Apple’s working on super cheap iPhones for emerging markets. We thought you should know.
