AppleInsider Staff
A fresh rumor out of the Far East on Thursday claims Apple will launch a low-cost iPhone in September in five colors, with the hues taken directly from the company's official bumpers made for the iPhone 4.
Citing a reliable source, Japanese Apple blog MacOtakara reports Apple has decided to produce black, white, pink, orange and blue versions of an as-yet-unannounced low-cost iPhone. The color saturation is said to be very close or identical to Apple's iPhone 4 Bumpers.
In addition, the person said green is no longer being considered, a color rumored to be in the running as of late May. The source was not sure if a (PRODUCT)RED iteration would be included in the launch lineup.
As for Apple's follow-up to the iPhone 5, dubbed by many as the "iPhone 5S," the site reiterated that gold will be an option when the handset is released this fall. The statements are in line with a photo of purporting to show SIM card trays bound for the next-generation iPhone, one of which appeared to be golden or beige.
Rumors of a colored iPhone 5S first gained traction in January, when Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White claimed supply chain sources said the smartphone would be offered in a range of eight colors. Those options were pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, silver, slate and a special designation for the (PRODUCT)RED initiative.
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66 Comments
I'm still confused as to waht the advantage is to selling a bunch of low-margin phones that -- assuming people only bought them because they are cheap -- won't even produce much in iTunes sales is. What does this gain Apple? And multi-colored iPhones? Really? Hideous.
I'm still confused as to waht the advantage is to selling a bunch of low-margin phones that -- assuming people only bought them because they are cheap -- won't even produce much in iTunes sales is.
What does this gain Apple?
And multi-colored iPhones? Really? Hideous.
Yeah, those colours are damn ugly.
The only way selling low-cost iPhones would work would involved neutering features enough to minimize cannibalization and aiming for profits via the high-margin app/iTunes store.
The problem with neutering the iPhone sufficiently is that it would require a "light" version or altered loadout of iOS 7 (no camera? no GPS? lower res display? no SIRI? slower processor?), which I really don't see happening.
I can't see apple messing with the iPhone brand with a "can't do everything" phone, and can't see them split iOS into a multiple-loadout package either.
I'm still confused as to waht the advantage is to selling a bunch of low-margin phones that -- assuming people only bought them because they are cheap -- won't even produce much in iTunes sales is.
What does this gain Apple?
And multi-colored iPhones? Really? Hideous.
It helps keep IOS relevant in the silly "marketshare" bubble. By allowing vast amount of people in third-world countries to start using IOS, they win over users who will later stay in the ecosystem.
That is one ghastly shade of pink.
Here's hoping this is another rumour that sinks without a trace!
It is not low margin. That will be silly. Inexpensive /= low Margin. It shouldn't even be called inexpensive, instead an more affordable version. At $399 Apple Can make the same margin as it did with the latest iPhone 5 with some tradeoffs. But I dont think Apple has decided which to tradeoff yet.