Why do Apple need to produce a cheeper, plastic iPhone ?
- Emerging Indian and Chinese markets ? NO ! The cheaper iPhone won't be that cheap and so, if people don't even have money to eat, they won't have money to buy an iPhone, period.
Why would Apple give us such array of colors ?
- They wouldn't. They never did and black and white is already enough.
Would Apple produce a plastic iPhone ?
- Again, NO ! They have done it with the 3G and the 3GS and they moved on. Why would they walk backwards now ?
Apple always maintained that QUALITY means everything. They don't care about bigger screens because they have one that is just perfect, with the right resolution. They won't use cheap plastic because they now have used and perfected aluminum...
You want a cheap iPhone ? The 4S will be free with contract pretty soon.
Why do Apple need to produce a cheeper, plastic iPhone ?
- Emerging Indian and Chinese markets ? NO ! The cheaper iPhone won't be that cheap and so, if people don't even have money to eat, they won't have money to buy an iPhone, period.
Why would Apple give us such array of colors ?
- They wouldn't. They never did and black and white is already enough.
Would Apple produce a plastic iPhone ?
- Again, NO ! They have done it with the 3G and the 3GS and they moved on. Why would they walk backwards now ?
Apple always maintained that QUALITY means everything. They don't care about bigger screens because they have one that is just perfect, with the right resolution. They won't use cheap plastic because they now have used and perfected aluminum...
You want a cheap iPhone ? The 4S will be free with contract pretty soon.
"Patience you must have my young padawan"
Ridiculous.
1) the middle classes in either country will be able to afford a mid range iPhone. The rich already buy the existing iPhone and it is there - the BRICS - that most consumer growth will happen in the future.
2) Apple have an array of colors in the iPod.
3) why is plastic "backwards"
4) Apple can ensure quality in cheaper packages as they do with the iPad mini
5) the 4s will be discontinued this fall. Otherwise apple will be supporting two connectors until 2014.
The arguments against cheaper iPhones not only mimic the failed arguments against the mini last year but make the same logical and factual errors.
1) the middle classes in either country will be able to afford a mid range iPhone. The rich already buy the existing iPhone and it is there - the BRICS - that most consumer growth will happen in the future.
2) Apple have an array of colors in the iPod.
3) why is plastic "backwards"
4) Apple can ensure quality in cheaper packages as they do with the iPad mini
5) the 4s will be discontinued this fall. Otherwise apple will be supporting two connectors until 2014.
The arguments against cheaper iPhones not only mimic the failed arguments against the mini last year but make the same logical and factual errors.
New arguments needed.
How cheap do you think the so called "iPhone Lite" will be ? If it is 200$ cheaper (not gonna happen) I guess people will rather buy the top of the range iPhone if they save a little... It's just math.
Indeed, they do have an array of colors in the iPod but I'm 100% sure they will not do that with the iPhone. Seems ludicrous to me.
Plastic is backwards in terms of design/feeling. Apple is about the feeling you get when you have an iPhone or any other product in your hands and yes, in those terms, plastic is backwards.
If the iPad mini was made out of the same materials as the 4th gen iPad, with the smaller screen, I bet it would sell much, much better..
My honest opinion is that Apple WILL NOT RELEASE any cheaper/plastic/entry level iPhone. They can do just fine with one single high end model. If they do that, iPhones will be trivialized when you buy one expecting some exclusivity, at least that's what we hope in Portugal..
--$300 is not cheap, in the current phone market. It's not most expensive, but its not cheap. Apple already sells moderately priced items across its product lines. They never sell the cheapest, but they don't only sell the most expensive. They sell what they can make well with a good margin.
--The phones backs we've been seeing pictures of aren't necessarily plastic. The entire tech rumor mill has for some reason settled on the idea that they are, but you can see that we're looking at protective plastic film over something else. Given the colors, iPod Touch style aluminum doesn't seem far fetched.
--Why is it OK for Apple to offer the Touch in these colors but "ludicrous" to make a less expensive iPhone in the same color? The iPhone isn't some kind of Faberge Egg of preciousness. It's no different from any Apple product. Apple would make candy colored MacBook Airs if they thought that's what their market wanted.
--Re the above, I think you misunderstand Apple's market positioning. They're not going out of their way to maintain exclusivity. They're going out of their way to maintain quality and user experience. There's no magical iPhone check it out I'm better than you vibe to defend. There's just iPhones and a shitload of Android phones and markets and margins and design. If Apple can make a nice phone that maintains quality and UX that can sell for $300 and get their margins, why wouldn't they? Do you actually think people will stop buying iPhones because lesser beings can afford to own a somewhat less expensive model?
Now, some people might opt for a cheaper phone instead of the flagship, but that's been true of everything Apple makes all along. They're pretty good at providing motivations for the upsale, while not unduly crippling or cheaping out on entry level models.
At any rate, everything about this rumor, from colors to pricing to motivation, is completely business as usual for Apple. I'm still not getting why people think the iPhone is radically different or special and must be treated like nothing else Apple makes. A $300 multicolored iPhone would be completely normal for Apple, not some lunge into post-Steve market share grubbing.
I might also add that iOS 7, you might have noticed, is trading in a much brighter, poppier color palette than iOS 6. A lot of people are claiming that that, too, is "cheap" and "un-Apple."
But the cultural positioning of palettes aren't a fact of the world; they're acquired taste and as such subject to constant revision and variation across parts of the world. This year's ugly is next year's cutting edge is over there's normal. Not hard to imagine that bright, upbeat OS on bright, upbeat phones, is it? And who might dig bright and upbeat? Could it possibly be the younger buyers that Apple needs to attract to maintain their market position?
The market for smartphones amongst more affluent, older consumers is saturating. The market for smartphones amongst younger, less affluent consumers is exploding (particularly outside the US, where most of Apple's sales growth is now occurring. Particular in China and Asia in general where, you guessed it, bright color schemes are very desirable).
Honestly, I'm mystified by the number of people that are freaking out at the idea of a relatively less expensive, multicolored iPhone, as if that were a betrayal of Apple's core values. It is in fact business as usual for Apple, the real question being what took them so long.
I think you partially answer your question. Now is the time they can do it right.
The more I think about it, the more this lower priced iPhone makes sense to me. We are all expecting the 4S to become the $450/free on contract iPhone. I am starting to lean toward this iPhone filling that gap. 4S internals, camera, the 4" screen, lightning connector.
iPad 4 becomes the $399 full size iPad, redesigned iPad the $499 full size iPad.
This also puts the 30-pin dock connector out to pasture.
The only problem I see with this is that AirDrop and filters in the camera app are (currently) iPhone 5 only (and the 5S for lack of a better name at this point), so unsure if Apple would release a brand new product that doesn't fully support the new iOS features.
Then again, in all likelihood, there is at least one unannounced feature thaw will be 5S only.
I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone 5 became an all plastic model (the 5P? The 4S+?) and only the 5S was aluminum. The iPhone 4 and 4S could be gone after the 5S is announced.
Comments
Well, let's think a bit, shall we..
Why do Apple need to produce a cheeper, plastic iPhone ?
- Emerging Indian and Chinese markets ? NO ! The cheaper iPhone won't be that cheap and so, if people don't even have money to eat, they won't have money to buy an iPhone, period.
Why would Apple give us such array of colors ?
- They wouldn't. They never did and black and white is already enough.
Would Apple produce a plastic iPhone ?
- Again, NO ! They have done it with the 3G and the 3GS and they moved on. Why would they walk backwards now ?
Apple always maintained that QUALITY means everything. They don't care about bigger screens because they have one that is just perfect, with the right resolution. They won't use cheap plastic because they now have used and perfected aluminum...
You want a cheap iPhone ? The 4S will be free with contract pretty soon.
"Patience you must have my young padawan"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nunoffaria
Well, let's think a bit, shall we..
Why do Apple need to produce a cheeper, plastic iPhone ?
- Emerging Indian and Chinese markets ? NO ! The cheaper iPhone won't be that cheap and so, if people don't even have money to eat, they won't have money to buy an iPhone, period.
Why would Apple give us such array of colors ?
- They wouldn't. They never did and black and white is already enough.
Would Apple produce a plastic iPhone ?
- Again, NO ! They have done it with the 3G and the 3GS and they moved on. Why would they walk backwards now ?
Apple always maintained that QUALITY means everything. They don't care about bigger screens because they have one that is just perfect, with the right resolution. They won't use cheap plastic because they now have used and perfected aluminum...
You want a cheap iPhone ? The 4S will be free with contract pretty soon.
"Patience you must have my young padawan"
Ridiculous.
1) the middle classes in either country will be able to afford a mid range iPhone. The rich already buy the existing iPhone and it is there - the BRICS - that most consumer growth will happen in the future.
2) Apple have an array of colors in the iPod.
3) why is plastic "backwards"
4) Apple can ensure quality in cheaper packages as they do with the iPad mini
5) the 4s will be discontinued this fall. Otherwise apple will be supporting two connectors until 2014.
The arguments against cheaper iPhones not only mimic the failed arguments against the mini last year but make the same logical and factual errors.
New arguments needed.
Quote:
Ridiculous.
1) the middle classes in either country will be able to afford a mid range iPhone. The rich already buy the existing iPhone and it is there - the BRICS - that most consumer growth will happen in the future.
2) Apple have an array of colors in the iPod.
3) why is plastic "backwards"
4) Apple can ensure quality in cheaper packages as they do with the iPad mini
5) the 4s will be discontinued this fall. Otherwise apple will be supporting two connectors until 2014.
The arguments against cheaper iPhones not only mimic the failed arguments against the mini last year but make the same logical and factual errors.
New arguments needed.
How cheap do you think the so called "iPhone Lite" will be ? If it is 200$ cheaper (not gonna happen) I guess people will rather buy the top of the range iPhone if they save a little... It's just math.
Indeed, they do have an array of colors in the iPod but I'm 100% sure they will not do that with the iPhone. Seems ludicrous to me.
Plastic is backwards in terms of design/feeling. Apple is about the feeling you get when you have an iPhone or any other product in your hands and yes, in those terms, plastic is backwards.
If the iPad mini was made out of the same materials as the 4th gen iPad, with the smaller screen, I bet it would sell much, much better..
My honest opinion is that Apple WILL NOT RELEASE any cheaper/plastic/entry level iPhone. They can do just fine with one single high end model. If they do that, iPhones will be trivialized when you buy one expecting some exclusivity, at least that's what we hope in Portugal..
Again:
--$300 is not cheap, in the current phone market. It's not most expensive, but its not cheap. Apple already sells moderately priced items across its product lines. They never sell the cheapest, but they don't only sell the most expensive. They sell what they can make well with a good margin.
--The phones backs we've been seeing pictures of aren't necessarily plastic. The entire tech rumor mill has for some reason settled on the idea that they are, but you can see that we're looking at protective plastic film over something else. Given the colors, iPod Touch style aluminum doesn't seem far fetched.
--Why is it OK for Apple to offer the Touch in these colors but "ludicrous" to make a less expensive iPhone in the same color? The iPhone isn't some kind of Faberge Egg of preciousness. It's no different from any Apple product. Apple would make candy colored MacBook Airs if they thought that's what their market wanted.
--Re the above, I think you misunderstand Apple's market positioning. They're not going out of their way to maintain exclusivity. They're going out of their way to maintain quality and user experience. There's no magical iPhone check it out I'm better than you vibe to defend. There's just iPhones and a shitload of Android phones and markets and margins and design. If Apple can make a nice phone that maintains quality and UX that can sell for $300 and get their margins, why wouldn't they? Do you actually think people will stop buying iPhones because lesser beings can afford to own a somewhat less expensive model?
Now, some people might opt for a cheaper phone instead of the flagship, but that's been true of everything Apple makes all along. They're pretty good at providing motivations for the upsale, while not unduly crippling or cheaping out on entry level models.
At any rate, everything about this rumor, from colors to pricing to motivation, is completely business as usual for Apple. I'm still not getting why people think the iPhone is radically different or special and must be treated like nothing else Apple makes. A $300 multicolored iPhone would be completely normal for Apple, not some lunge into post-Steve market share grubbing.
I might also add that iOS 7, you might have noticed, is trading in a much brighter, poppier color palette than iOS 6. A lot of people are claiming that that, too, is "cheap" and "un-Apple."
But the cultural positioning of palettes aren't a fact of the world; they're acquired taste and as such subject to constant revision and variation across parts of the world. This year's ugly is next year's cutting edge is over there's normal. Not hard to imagine that bright, upbeat OS on bright, upbeat phones, is it? And who might dig bright and upbeat? Could it possibly be the younger buyers that Apple needs to attract to maintain their market position?
The market for smartphones amongst more affluent, older consumers is saturating. The market for smartphones amongst younger, less affluent consumers is exploding (particularly outside the US, where most of Apple's sales growth is now occurring. Particular in China and Asia in general where, you guessed it, bright color schemes are very desirable).
I think you partially answer your question. Now is the time they can do it right.
The more I think about it, the more this lower priced iPhone makes sense to me. We are all expecting the 4S to become the $450/free on contract iPhone. I am starting to lean toward this iPhone filling that gap. 4S internals, camera, the 4" screen, lightning connector.
iPad 4 becomes the $399 full size iPad, redesigned iPad the $499 full size iPad.
This also puts the 30-pin dock connector out to pasture.
The only problem I see with this is that AirDrop and filters in the camera app are (currently) iPhone 5 only (and the 5S for lack of a better name at this point), so unsure if Apple would release a brand new product that doesn't fully support the new iOS features.
Then again, in all likelihood, there is at least one unannounced feature thaw will be 5S only.
Don't forget, the iPod Classic still uses the 30 pin connector.
Oh yes, forgot about that.
$249 for the 160 GB. Hmm. Perhaps a 128 GB iPod touch, but that would be, at current iPod touch prices, $499.
I believe they could be real. I also believe that they're absolutely hideous.
I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone 5 became an all plastic model (the 5P? The 4S+?) and only the 5S was aluminum. The iPhone 4 and 4S could be gone after the 5S is announced.