With all the cutting-edge mobile innovations coming out of CES this week, it’s hard to imagine a substantive buzz originating from talk of a scaled back, modestly-priced iPhone entering the market in 2013. But big business may come of such a small move, says one of Wall Street’s most prominent Apple watchers.
This week, speculation surged that Apple is planning an entry-level iPhone to entice emerging markets.
Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray estimates that Apple’s new unsubsidized phone will come with a $200 price tag at some point during 2013. In response, the company may add more than $6 billion to its 2013 bottom line.
Despite the anticipated average selling price of the iPhone falling from $640 to $520, Munster thinks the “inexpensive iPhone” could change the global smartphone market dynamics by a considerable degree.
According to DigiTimes, the new iPhone model will be chiefly aimed at China and other emerging markets, where Apple faces stiff competition from a wave of cheap Android devices.
Stay tuned.
