Despite plenty of consumer and carrier interest, these markets have eluded Apple domination due to the iPhone being exclusively a high end product. The price puts them out of the reach of many potential customers in countries like China.
According to Reuters, production of the new phone, which will have 8GB of storage and be based on the iPhone 4, is already underway.
They also say Chinese carriers China Mobile Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd are in talks with Apple to carry the unit.
Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund, said, "A lower-priced version of iPhone 4 seems to be a necessary evil at this point in the iPhone adoption cycle, especially in emerging markets where the average income of individuals is much lower."
The discount model is not expected to be sold in the US, Europe, or other well established iPhone markets.
In fact, as market research from NPD Group showed earlier this year, Apple is already capable of competing effectively at the low end in the US. At that time, the iPhone 3GS ranked second in unit sales only to the iPhone 4.
Keep in mind, that was with the potential market limited to AT&T customers since the iPhone 4 was the first model with CDMA support.
Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 24 Aug 2011 11:58
