Apple used to deny categorically that it would sell a low-end iPhone. Then the stance softened in public to something like "we'd never sell a product that sucked." Some observers thought that "we'll never sell a low-cost iPhone" stancewas destined to prove wrong, if only because of the need to compete in emerging markets where the historic price of an iPhone is a prohibitive barrier to adoption.
And some would have pointed to Apple's own history of selling iPods in multiple price ranges and models as a precedent.
But it now appears Apple will indeed ship a low-cost iPhone in September 2013. Many financial analysts have worried about that particular event, since it has direct implications for Apple iPhone average selling prices.
Some worry that the lower end device could cannibalize sales of the standard models. But a lower cost iPhone is a risk Apple simply has to take, unless it wants to watch other smart phone suppliers dominate emerging markets.
Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty thinks the lower-cost device, tentatively dubbed the iPhone 5C, will add 13 points of market share for Apple in China.
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