ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Good or bad for B&O? (sorry but my iPad would not let me post a link...... Copied and pasted from the Wall Street Journal):
Apple Inc. AAPL +0.27% is working on a lower-end iPhone, according to people briefed on the matter, a big shift in its corporate strategy as its supremacy in smartphones has slipped. Enlarge Image Eric Risberg, File/AP/dapd Apple may be working on a lower-priced iPhone. More What We Know of New Model While Apple has explored such a device for years, the plan has been progressing and a less expensive version of its flagship device could launch as soon as later this year, one of the people said. The cheaper phone could resemble the standard iPhone, with a different, less-expensive body, one of the people said. One possibility Apple has considered is lowering the cost of the device by using a different shell made of polycarbonate plastic; in contrast, the iPhone 5 currently has an aluminum housing. Many other parts could remain the same or be recycled from older iPhone models. Apple could decide not to move forward with the device. A spokeswoman for the Cupertino, Calif., company declined to comment. The move towards multiple iPhone models is new territory for Apple. Under former Chief Executive Steve Jobs, Apple historically prided itself on prioritizing profits over scale and offered a relatively small number of products targeted at the high end. In more recent years—and especially since Tim Cook took the reins as CEO in August 2011—that has started to change. In October, Apple unveiled a smaller iPad, dubbed the iPad Mini, to go alongside its bigger iPad tablets. Still, the company has sold only one main new iPhone model, with different storage capacities, at a time since launching the smartphone in 2007. Today the iPhone is Apple's chief revenue driver, with sales of iPhones and related products and services accounting for 48% of revenue in the quarter ended in September. Apple has been considering a less-expensive iPhone since at least 2009 to grab market share and hook people on the brand, said people familiar with the efforts. Before the launch of the iPhone 4 in mid-2010, the company developed designs for cheaper phones that were very similar to the latest iPhone but had a less expensive back and sides, one of the people said. Apple tabled the plan as some executives worried a second iPhone would complicate its manufacturing processes. The company decided to keep older iPhone models on sale for less, a strategy that didn't require designing new products. But Apple now faces greater pressure to make the iPhone more affordable. An onslaught of lower cost rivals powered by Google Inc.'s GOOG -0.20% Android operating system are gaining market share. In the 2012 third quarter, Apple held only 14.6% of worldwide smartphone shipments, down from a peak of 23% in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, according to IDC.
Apple Inc. AAPL +0.27% is working on a lower-end iPhone, according to people briefed on the matter, a big shift in its corporate strategy as its supremacy in smartphones has slipped.
Enlarge Image
Apple may be working on a lower-priced iPhone.
While Apple has explored such a device for years, the plan has been progressing and a less expensive version of its flagship device could launch as soon as later this year, one of the people said.
The cheaper phone could resemble the standard iPhone, with a different, less-expensive body, one of the people said. One possibility Apple has considered is lowering the cost of the device by using a different shell made of polycarbonate plastic; in contrast, the iPhone 5 currently has an aluminum housing. Many other parts could remain the same or be recycled from older iPhone models.
Apple could decide not to move forward with the device. A spokeswoman for the Cupertino, Calif., company declined to comment.
The move towards multiple iPhone models is new territory for Apple. Under former Chief Executive Steve Jobs, Apple historically prided itself on prioritizing profits over scale and offered a relatively small number of products targeted at the high end.
In more recent years—and especially since Tim Cook took the reins as CEO in August 2011—that has started to change. In October, Apple unveiled a smaller iPad, dubbed the iPad Mini, to go alongside its bigger iPad tablets.
Still, the company has sold only one main new iPhone model, with different storage capacities, at a time since launching the smartphone in 2007. Today the iPhone is Apple's chief revenue driver, with sales of iPhones and related products and services accounting for 48% of revenue in the quarter ended in September.
Apple has been considering a less-expensive iPhone since at least 2009 to grab market share and hook people on the brand, said people familiar with the efforts. Before the launch of the iPhone 4 in mid-2010, the company developed designs for cheaper phones that were very similar to the latest iPhone but had a less expensive back and sides, one of the people said.
Apple tabled the plan as some executives worried a second iPhone would complicate its manufacturing processes. The company decided to keep older iPhone models on sale for less, a strategy that didn't require designing new products.
But Apple now faces greater pressure to make the iPhone more affordable. An onslaught of lower cost rivals powered by Google Inc.'s GOOG -0.20% Android operating system are gaining market share.
In the 2012 third quarter, Apple held only 14.6% of worldwide smartphone shipments, down from a peak of 23% in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, according to IDC.
I think this is the way they have to go, since people dont want to pay too much for a phone anymore. The companies have helped the market to accept that new revolutionary products are rather expensive and over time the bet cheaper.
My opinion is that even if the Iphone in this case is a nice product, mine has an aluminum backside - I would not care if it was in plastic or as the old one glass. For me a phone is a consumable product, I buy a new phone every or everyother year since they are done.
I dont think the majority of people really care too much, if a parent shall buy a phone to they kids and the kids want a smartphone I can bet my shirt that they dont care if it is an Iphone or android they give to their kid if the iphone if three times the investment - since the phone will get lost or stolen oct break within the year..
I think this is the way for apple to compete with all other phone companies that sells cheaper phones.
I'm sure it's a good move. Let's face it. The iPhone (current up-to date model) is expensive, it's a great phone, and I think it's worth 800 euros. It's a 400 euro/year phone for me as I usually keep them for two years. But many people think they're too expensive. So I agree with what's posted above.
You get the older ones, iPhone 4 and 4s for cheaper, but that's an "old" phone.
Making a "mini" iPhone that's new and current and cheaper is going to sell!
Too long to list....
The original iPhones had a plastic case, and no one complained about them. My wife still uses a 3GS, and I have a 4, and feel no real need to upgrade.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Jeff: The original iPhones had a plastic case, and no one complained about them. My wife still uses a 3GS, and I have a 4, and feel no real need to upgrade.
Shirley the original iPhone had a metal back!
My worry here (if I was an apple devotee) is that apple thinks that that (cost of device) is the reason Android devices are beginning to dominate the market!!
Ban boring signatures!
As Puncher said, anodized aluminum backs. And think what a giant leap for mankind that original iPhone was back in summer of 2007!!!!
Puncher: Shirley the original iPhone had a metal back!
Who is Shirley..?
Steffen: Puncher: Shirley the original iPhone had a metal back! Who is Shirley..?
Siri's girlfriend.
Puncher: Jeff: The original iPhones had a plastic case, and no one complained about them. My wife still uses a 3GS, and I have a 4, and feel no real need to upgrade. Shirley the original iPhone had a metal back! My worry here (if I was an apple devotee) is that apple thinks that that (cost of device) is the reason Android devices are beginning to dominate the market!!
Sure doesn't feel like metal.
Jeff: Sure doesn't feel like metal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_(1st_generation)
Jeff: Puncher: Jeff: The original iPhones had a plastic case, and no one complained about them. My wife still uses a 3GS, and I have a 4, and feel no real need to upgrade. Shirley the original iPhone had a metal back! My worry here (if I was an apple devotee) is that apple thinks that that (cost of device) is the reason Android devices are beginning to dominate the market!! Sure doesn't feel like metal.
It's still metal though.