According to a study by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, Apple is going to come up with a cheap version of the iPhone over the next two years. He believes that Apple will make a special version of the iPhone by 2014 and it will cost a meager $200. The analyst suggests that this budget iPhone is going to be aimed at emerging markets such as India and China.
Munster says that while globally the handset is subsidised by networks, this is not the case in countries such as India and China. This is a market of as many as 3 billion smartphone users. Therefore, the analyst suggests, Apple will want to cut prices of the iPhone to gain business.
Some of the networks in China have already gone on the record saying that they will be providing the iPhone 5 shortly. However, this does not include hina Mobile, which is the largest network with almost 700 million subscribers.
Android mobiles are more popular in China. The popularity is not limited to their low cost. As many as 59% of high-end handsets sold in China over the last three months have been Android based.
Another reason for Munster to believe that Apple would launch a low cost iPhone is that it has launched the smaller iPad, which the company earlier never suggested it would. While Apple always offers the previous versions of a new launch at a lower cost, this time they might give us a whole new iPhone at a cheaper cost.
