Jul 17 2007
The Second Generation iPhone Is in the Pipe Line
Time to Line Up Again?
The frenzy over Apple iPhone still looms fresh in the memory of the common people. Who can possibly forget the snaking lines outside the big North American Apple stores? The queue is symbolic of twenty first century men’s fervor for keeping pace with the ruthless advancement of technology!
But as it seems, there can be no end to men’s endeavor for grabbing their shares on the very cutting edge of the technology! Only weeks passed and speculations about a new generation iPhone have taken the world by storm!A J.P Morgan analyst has spilt the bin open—-“Apple plans to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone in the fourth quarter that could be based on the ultra-slim iPod Nano music player”. Source: Reuters. What led Chang to conclude this? The basis of his belief is his conversations with unnamed sources and an Apple Patent filing for a slim device that uses an input method similar to the familiar iPod scroll wheel.
So what led Apple Inc to go for this version of iPhone? Here are two possible explanations:
1. Apple is probably trying to make inroads into the markets of Asia and Europe where slimmer and smaller cell phones are more preferred. However, the skeptics are of the opinion that it can turn out to be an engineering challenge to pack all the punches of iPhone in a device as small as an iPod Nano.
2. Some quarter is of the opinion that Apple is contemplating a cheaper version of the iPhone on the design of Nano. This new version is going to be cheaper by some $300 making it more affordable than the iPhone priced at $500-600. Even if the Nano based iPhone will definitely have limited functionality (the absence of touch screen interface is definitely a big miss), the lower price tag will help reach the iPhone technology into the hands of more users world wide.
Let’s find out what market analysts have to say about the future of this cheaper and slimmer iPhone.
Presently in the USA, 85% of the consumers are not ready to invest more than $100 in cell phones. So the high price tag of the iPhone is going to have a limited customer base in the cell phone market. On the other hand, with iPhone getting cheaper - Apple; already an unquestionable leader in the digital music player market, could emerge as a tough competitor to long-established phone giants such as Nokia, Motorola Inc, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.
The world, as Chang believes, is going to get its second generation, cheaper iPhone in 2008. The lower price tag can help sell some 30 to 40 million units - predicts the industry watchers.
I knew it! I think apart from the price of the iPhone, the reason why lots of people are reluctant to buy it is they know Apple is going to come out with a second gen model soon after they get it. As far as it being a Nano counterpart, I don’t know if that’s such a cool thing. I mean if it’s not going to have all the cool things people love about iPhone (especially the touch screen) then you might as well go and buy a “regular” phone. I think I’d buy the new Razr 2 instead of a Nano version of the iPhone.