According to Reuters, Asian suppliers to Apple already have begun manufacturing a cheaper version iPhone 4 with a smaller 8 gigabyte flash drive. This cheaper iPhone 4 is expected to have a capacity of 8 gigabytes and will arrive around the same time Apple unveils its much-anticipated iPhone 5.
Also, Apple made exactly the same move with the iPhone 3GS when lunched the new iPhone 4 last summer, dropping the price of iPhone 3GS from $199 to $99 as it halved memory from 16GB to 8GB.
However, some analysts said this move could help Apple boost sales in emerging markets.
“Apple may want to push into the emerging market segment where customers want to switch to low- to mid-end smartphones from high-end feature phones, which usually cost $150-200. But I think for an 8GB iPhone 4 the price is hard to go below $200, so Apple will still need a completely new phone with low specifications for the emerging markets,” said Yuanta Securities analyst Bonnie Chang.
Advertising a cheaper version of the iPhone 4 may allow Apple to attract customers who are looking for a capable smartphone, but are not willing to jump to the price tier of the iPhone 5.