Just yesterday, word circulated of Apple's potential plan to sell a lower-cost iPhone, in order to compete with the likes of Android and Samsung smartphones. While the rumor seemed grounded in some truth, Apple senior vice-president of marketing Phil Schiller refuted the idea in a recent interview.
Speaking with the Shanghai Evening News (via The Next Web) on Wednesday, Schiller sees the obvious reasons to substantiate the sale of cheaper smartphones, but apparently doesn't believe the business model makes much sense for Apple.
"At first, non-smartphones were popular in the Chinese market, now cheap smartphones are more popular and non-smartphones are out," said Schiller. "Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products. In fact, although Apple’s market share of smartphones is just about 20%, we own the 75% of the profit."
Yesterday, we reported another story from the Wall Street Journal, claiming Apple was planning to somehow lower the price of certain models of iPhones. The WSJ report also indicated Apple may attain the cheaper price point through the use of less-costly materials like polycarbonate plastic.
Frankly, the concept of Apple lowering its quality to meet some portion of consumer demand isn't in line with the traditional Apple method of designing its products. Yes, Apple devices are expensive; but the price is directly linked to a history of high-quality components and the obvious significance of the Apple brand.
Will we continue to see "lower-cost" iPhone units, like older models supplied for free with carrier agreements? Sure, obviously. But reducing the quality of the iPhone would mean a major shift for Cupertino, and while things have certainly changed a bit since the passing of Steve Jobs, plastic iPhones would mean more than a business direction. A crummy iPhone would mean a philosophy change.
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Image Source: Apple
