The strongest hint yet that Apple could build a cheaper smartphone was dropped by its chief executive Tim Cook at a Goldman Sachs conference yesterday (Tuesday).
HumanIPO reported in January it had been suggested a low cost plastic iPhone was in development featuring elements of the iPod Touch and iPod Classic, but speaking in San Francisco, Cook said a new model would not necessarily be a “cheaper version of the current iPhone”.
He said: “We are making moves to make things more affordable. When we came out with the iPod, it was US$399. Today you can buy an iPod shuffle for US$49. Instead of saying ‘how can we cheapen this iPod to get it lower’, we said ‘how can we do a great product’, and we were able to do that. The same thing, but in a different concept in some ways.”
While revealing there are now 500 million iOS devices now in use around the world, he also pointed to China as a source of potential source of huge growth. He said Apple had gone from “a few hundred million in revenue in one year to $3bn in the next to $13bn the next – we’re adding over $10bn every year”.
Despite 40 percent of all iOS devices sold were in 2012, Cook added “the iPhone is really only available to about half of the subscribers in the world, so there is tons of opportunity to expand that”.
