Is a $99 iPhone Coming Summer of 2009?
Some of you probably don’t care, a lot of you probably already have real iPhones but for cheapskates like Kate Yates, Apple may be creating the perfect option. It is expected Apple will start selling a watered down version of the iPhone sometime this summer. If you already bought yours don’t worry. According to RBC analyst Mark Abramsky, the main cost reductions come from fewer features, thankfully not an iPhone Nano. Abramsky suggested the new version of the iPhone may have a lower resolution camera, no 3G Internet access, or GPS. He also said it is likely to have a more affordable data plan estimated at $15/month.
While this is good news for designers who want to look trendy but can’t write off the oversized expense as a tax deduction. I wonder what kind of problems it will present to app designers. Now there will be 4 variations to consider, with varying feature sets. The original iPhone, the iPod Touch, the iPhone 3G and the new $99 iPhone all are significantly different. For some apps and games it won’t matter but for some that want to incorporate GPS or the camera it may increase the number of logistical issues. It will be interesting to see what Apple decides. It may be that 3G and GPS stay intact as research firm iSuppli estimates the cost of these options at $20.
Regardless, Apple expects they can sell 20-30 million of these cheaper iPhones in fiscal year 2010 boosting their smartphone market share to almost 20%. Now maybe Adobe and Apple will actually get serious about making Flash work on the iPhone.
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The answer is no. Apple isn’t interested in the low end market nor do they really need to be. People who aren’t cheap, who are very much not few and far between when it comes to Apple products will rush out and buy the new one as they become available, and if you were smart you could sell your old iPhone on craigslist and still make a profit and have a shiny new toy. Apple already stated that their intention was to stay away from that ‘field’ as it is a whole other ball game, and most people still aren’t interested in paying for the iphone premium which is associated with their bill.