What is better than an iPhone? Two iPhones, obviously! So, this time over, Apple is going to introduce not one, but two phones in
September. The first one will be the fifth iteration of iPhone with usual bells and whistles, plus a couple of new features. But the real scoop would be the mini iPhone, which is likely to be a pre-paid one, in contrast to with-contract iPhone we have seen so far.
Until now, it was believed that Apple was going to launch fifth version of iPhone under the moniker '4S', however, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore believes that '4S' would actually be a contract free prepaid iPhone. The new low-end phone is expected to be moderately priced in the range of $300 to $500. Though, the analyst did not elaborate on the features of the phone but it is more likely to be similar to iPhone 4.
The veracity of the claim is questionable, but at the very same time, it does make immense business sense. When it comes to popularity, pre-paid phone plans beat long-term contract plans hands down. Globally, mobile user base is expected to be in the vicinity of 1.5 billion and out of these, around 1 billion users are on pre-paid plans and thus are left out of the target market for iPhone. With a pre-paid iPhone, Apple would jump into a whole new market altogether and if history is any indication then it may just re-define the segment.
Going by the track record of Apple, the idea of a pre-paid iPhone seems to be wrapped in a cover with 'success' written all over it. However, the bigger question is that if the new concept will gel well with the established image of the company. No offence to Apple Fans, but its products are known as much for their snob value as they are for their utility and high quality. As shown by a report released last week, Apple had always been able to charge premium price for its products and such premium pricing formed a part of its allure. Would Apple be alienating its core consumer base by making its products "too mainstream"? Well, we will have to wait for some time to how things play up but at the very same time, let's not forget that Apple pretty much did the same thing with iPad. Even in its second year, iPad is still the only decent tablet with equally decent price tag, beating all the eye-wateringly absurdly priced tablets like Xoom. Apple may perform an encore with iPhone.
One thought on “Apple May Release Two iPhone This Year Including a Prepaid One: Is it Diverging From its Premium Pricing Policies?”
Nonsense.
Every year they do the same thing, the new phone is the premium one and the one it replaces becomes the cheap one. Why would they change a method that has worked for years.