Apple will bring out a budget iPhone to battle Android

[Subject Delta]

Pay as you go is slightly different as certain handsets aren't subsidized by the the networks.

iPhone's are always going to be expensive, much like their Macs, they have a target market.

The iPhone price was for the iPhone on o2, the Desire HD price was for a sim free phone, so if anything it's the iPhone not the DHD that is being subsidised here.

[DiamondFootprint]

Neither of them are. CPW sell certain phones at sim free price and offer a pay go sim card.

[Subject Delta]

Well whichever way you look at it, the iPhone is still significantly more expensive, which nullifies the claim that it's all the carriers faults.

[alphaomegainfinity]

Trimming down the iphone to target a different customer base will reduce its functionality and quality and it won't be an Apple product anymore.

[Rudy]

And just how many people want an obsolete model?

I wouldn't call the 3Gs an obsolete model yet, it's still up to date on the OS version and can do most of the stuff the iPhone 4 can do. The 3G on the other hand is horribly out dated

[DiamondFootprint]

Well whichever way you look at it, the iPhone is still significantly more expensive, which nullifies the claim that it's all the carriers faults.

Oh yeah I agree with you there, As far as I am aware, In the UK carriers dont have much say when it comes to pricing. Not that they care anyways as it is a very lucrative product for them.

From what i've been told, the price also reduces network churn (non-payment etc etc)

[Shadrack]

Are there really that many people buying un-subsidized smart phones? When it comes to whats available in the USA, Android phones have about the same subsidized price points as iPhone.

Is size relevant here? Besides, no its not. Women's clothes do not generally have large pockets (and don't always want to use a handbag), and the iPhone is not an easy fit. (This is hardly an issue restricted to the iPhone though).

Size isn't relevant according to you because Women's clothes do not generally have large pockets and the iPhone is not an easy fit :blink: :pinch:

[Ravensky]

This will be epic fail for Apple...How do you make a phone that does less than the current iPhone / Droid to compete with the Droid? Makes no sense at all...People who are wanting a nice phone are going to be more conerned about features/apps than price. I mean I can get a nice droid for $199 with a 2 year contract or a 16GB iPhone for $199 with a 2 year contract. It's all about preferance, features, storage capacity and apps. I personally use a Droid because I hate being locked down to Apple's app store. IF however Apple lowered their price on the iPhone up front I think they would kill the Droid because Apple would be recovering those revenues from their app store, etc. This would make more sense in my opinion, not make a lesser phone to compete with a Droid.

[Southern Patriot]

32GB iPhone 4: ?599

HTC Desire HD: ?449.95

Pay as you go prices, taken from carphonewarehouse.com

That's a price difference of ?140.05

Like it or lump it, the facts disagree with you, Apple phones are overpriced.

OK, so in the case of that one particular phone I was wrong. The Desire HD is certainly not the most expensive Android phone on the market, so some other models are probably closer. The point I was trying to make in the first place was that any smartphone is expensive when you take carrier subsidies away (of course, some are going to be more expensive than others). And despite your obvious hatred of Apple and the iPhone, a lot of people do think that it has more to offer than Android phones, if not always in features then certainly in user experience. And before you accuse me of being completely biased against Android, I just bought my wife an HTC Desire (not the HD model, which really doesn't offer that much more in the way of features, and actually lacks a few things that the non-HD Desire has), and am considering getting an Android phone for myself sometime soon, if I don't just decide not to use a smartphone at all and stick with my netbook.

Size isn't relevant according to you because Women's clothes do not generally have large pockets and the iPhone is not an easy fit :blink: :pinch:

Yeah, I was scratching my head over his comment there as well, especially considering the fact that smaller size was one of the points mentioned in the article. There certainly is a market for various sizes of smartphones, as evidenced by the fact that Android and other smartphones are available in various screen sizes as well.

[Kreuger]

They should just leave it as is and drop the prices.

[Kirkburn]

Size isn't relevant according to you because Women's clothes do not generally have large pockets and the iPhone is not an easy fit :blink: :pinch:

Sorry, I missed the size point in the article - it is relevant. However, I was responding to:

The iPhone is pretty damn small already.

To which I was saying: no it's not pretty damn small already.

[.Neo]

The iPhone is pretty damn small already.

Size isn't the only factor Apple can cut costs on.

[azure.sapphire]

They never did a cheap iPhone, so I doubt they will do that. They always have produced multiple models of iPods and cheaper iPods. Apple doesnt go from an expensive version, to a cheaper version.

But you get more features with Android phones from the start. Not to mention that a lot of phone providers offer Android phones free with a contract. T-Mobile today is offering every phone for free.

This is why the are going to have to. If they can't come out with a $49 to $99 phone (of the same generation) their stock is going to take a hit, and worse, they will become a niche all over again. Honestly though, we are talking about Apple. They are full capable of screwing this up. They had a significant lead with the iTunes Store and OS X, and they have essentially lost both to better products and services. Apple has a tendency to view that they really have a golden key that everyone will pay anything for. What they fail to realize is that is just their fans; no one else gives a damn.

[DiamondFootprint]

This is why the are going to have to. If they can't come out with a $49 to $99 phone (of the same generation) their stock is going to take a hit, and worse, they will become a niche all over again. Honestly though, we are talking about Apple. They are full capable of screwing this up. They had a significant lead with the iTunes Store and OS X, and they have essentially lost both to better products and services. Apple has a tendency to view that they really have a golden key that everyone will pay anything for. What they fail to realize is that is just their fans; no one else gives a damn.

The iPhone being the best selling smartphone ever, pretty big niche dude.

[mad_onion]

The iPhone being the best selling smartphone ever, pretty big niche dude.

Only around 25% of people have smartphones only roughly 25% of those have iPhones. That's less than 7% of the total current phone market. What the poster you replied to was trying to say was that they need to make a lower cost phone to even retain their 25% marketshare as more smartphones are sold. This is because the most tech savvy people would be the first to buy smartphones and these are the same people who are willing (and to a certain extent able) to pay for an iPhone. As smartphone costs go down more people who aren't particularly bothered about what phone they have will be buying smartphones and they will go for low cost options.