Apple Will Never Focus On Cheap
- Rumours of new handset
- Cheaper or older materials
- New design
In a likely bid to compete with the budget handsets in the market today, rumours are circling that Apple is looking into making a lower cost iPhone. However, Phil Schiller said that Apple will not make budget smartphones a focus.
- Rumours of new handset
- Cheaper or older materials
- New design
In a likely bid to compete with the budget handsets in the market today, rumours are circling that Apple is looking into making a lower cost iPhone. However, Phil Schiller said that Apple will not make budget smartphones a focus.
Apple's SVP of worldwide marketing spoke relatively candidly about the rumours the brand is set to unveil a handset with a more affordable price point to satisfy new markets. He said that cheap smartphones would never be Apple's product development direction. "Although Apple's market share of smartphones is just about 20 percent, we own 75 percent of the profit," added Schiller, highlighting the importance of profits over market share in Apple's strategy.
Schiller also highlighted the manufacturing practices employed by Apple, namely the efforts to use the only best technology available (such as the Retina display and the chassis materials) in order to make a superior product.
Some people have speculated that a cheap iPhone would use lower-cost materials, something that Schiller took exception to. He noted that with things like the Retina display or aluminium chassis show that Apple will always look to the higher-end of the materials to bring the Apple 'ethos' to its products.
However, if the iPad Mini is any indication, Apple may actually do release a cheaper iPhone version. According to reports, there is absolutely room for an iPhone mini. One that uses older screen technology and lower cost materials but has a new design, which is precisely what happened with the iPad mini. In fact, it's hard to think of a top-end product range where Apple hasn’t made a mini version: the iPod, Mac and iPad all became miniaturized.
