Considering Apple is such a huge company and one of the largest players in the mobile and consumer technology industry, it shouldn’t come as any huge surprise that there is always a lot of speculation flying around about the company and their potential product launches at any given time. Whenever a new iPhone or iPad is released, it is inevitable that the rumor mill will kick into gear for the next major announcement, but there are a few points of speculation coming from Apple analyst Gene Munster that could prove to have some merit and could potentially be worth paying attention to.
The rumors surrounding the physical Apple TV unit simply won’t die down, and although, we have already passed the original speculated date of release, Munster is suggesting that the Cupertino based company could be looking to enter that particular market in November of 2013. Those who are interested in a potential release of this kind from the fruit company will need to wait until next year to see if it comes to fruition, but considering the conjecture has been with us for quite some time and refuses to die down could mean that there is some legitimacy behind it.
Munster also believes that Apple will have to rethink their current release and pricing strategies in a move that could see Tim Cook’s company introduce a cheaper iPhone model into the market that doesn’t carry any network based subsidiaries. It’s currently common practice in the United States and around Europe for network providers to provide devices like the iPhone to their customers with an initial down-payment starting at around $200. The network themselves purchase the hardware at full price from Apple and apply the subsidiary in the hope that they can recoup the cost through additional expenditure from the customer during a minimum-term contract.
Unfortunately, the current systems in emerging markets like India and China don’t lend themselves to this method, meaning that Apple have a very low market share in those territories as consumers simply can’t pay the full price for a SIM-free device. As part of his thoughts on the subject, Munster believes that Apple will take the chance in 2014 to introduce a cheaper and obviously less powerful iPhone in order to capitalize on the billions of potential customers in those markets. We are undecided on the introduction of an actual Apple TV set but a budget iPhone model would certainly seem to make sense if Apple want to grow their market share.
If this revelation turns out to be true then mark 2014 as the year of the cheaper iPhone in your calendar.
(via BusinessInsider)
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