Saturday, June 25, 2011

The iPhone 5 News Blog News Feed

The iPhone 5 News Blog News Feed

Apple Targets China as #1 Market for iPhone 5 Release, May Make it 4G

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 08:49 AM PDT


While the tech world has all but written off the prospect of the iPhone 5 being 4G-ready, new reports suggest that a China-only iPhone 5 could be 4G equipped — and be released at the same time (or even sooner) than in the U.S.. Read how China’s economic dominance is making them a bigger focus for Apple than even the United States.

How’s the U.S. economy doing these days?

9.1% unemployment. 18.1% underemployment. Record numbers of home foreclosures. The destruction of the middle class. Government debt levels soaring, with the prospect of defaulting.

How about China?

A burgeoning middle class. Record low unemployment. $3 trillion in reserves. Oh, and huge iPhone 4 sales.

It is for these reasons that new reports indicate that the iPhone 5 will be released simultaneously in China and the U.S. — or even sooner. On Wednesday, reports came out of China indicating that Apple has forged a new deal with China Mobile, which means that, along with China Telecom, Apple now has the top two mobile carriers in line to sell the iPhone 5. This deal is very similar to the deal that transpired in 2012-2011 to bring Verizon onboard with the iPhone 4 in the U.S..

Given the fact that China Mobile is much farther along in rolling out their 4G network — it is slated to fully launch next year — there are even rumors coming out of Shanghai that the Chinese version of the iPhone 5 could have a 4G radio built in, unlike the U.S. version, which most likely will not.

We’ve collected all of the related articles to this unfolding story at the iPhone 5 News Ticker. Check it out.

One of the reasons why a 4G modification to the Chinese iPhone 5 — and particularly to the China Mobile iPhone 5 — is that China Mobile uses a mobile technology that is different from CDMA and GSM and completely proprietary to mainland China. Because of this, Apple will have to craft a China Mobile-only iPhone 5 variant, much like what they did for Verizon with the iPhone 4.

Apple will make this modification happily, since China Mobile brings 841 million subscribers to the table, all of which are potential iPhone 5 users. And since they will already have the hood raised on the iPhone 5 to trick it out for China Mobile’s network, dropping in a 4G radio would only sweeten the deal.

It may, however, leave a bitter taste in the mouths of U.S. iPhone 5′ers.

Suck It Up, America: We’re Not #1 Anymore

The U.S. consumer has enjoyed being the #1 recipient of the first and best on the market for many decades now. But the sad reality is that the U.S. economy is steeped in a deep economic malaise, and as a result, corporations like Apple are going to look elsewhere to make up the difference in sales. There was a widely circulated story this week in Beatweek about how in the U.S., “iPhone 5 fights iPad 3 for tight-budget purchases in Q3 2011.” Beatweek‘s article underscores how, no matter how much excitement may surround the release of the iPhone 5 in the U.S., dreary economic conditions will stifle U.S. sales to some degree.

Another harsh reality for iPhone users that 4G is not as far along in the U.S. as it is in other countries — even China. And because China can potentially deliver a massive amount of iPhone 5 sales, giving them 4G technology — if they are ready for it, infrastructure-wise — is a smart business move for them.

The same could be true about releasing the iPhone 5 in China first.

It very well may be that Apple’s decision to delay the release of the iPhone 5 may have something to do with waiting for the U.S. economy to rebound — which it has not, to this point. If China is in better economic condition to hyper-inflate early iPhone 5 sales, from a business standpoint, would it not make more sense to prioritize China over the U.S.?

After all, Apple — or any multi-billion-dollar U.S. corporation — rarely makes business decisions based on patriotism. And with reports that Apple is preparing to sell 15 million iPhone 5s in the first month of its release alone, you can rest assured that China is going to play a big role in that number.

iPhone 5 “Lite” Rumor Suggests Confusing, Complicated Choices For iPhone Users

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 04:08 AM PDT


iphone 5 lite or nanoIf you have been following the iPhone 5 rumor mill since its beginning, then this isn’t the first time (nor likely the last) that you will hear rumors of two iPhone 5 species coming to the next iPhone release. Some have framed the rumor as an iPhone 5 “pro” model and a “lite” model, whereas others have imagined the fabled iPhone 4s playing the “lite” role to the “pro” iPhone 5 in September. There were even rumors of an iPhone 5 Nano for some time — a smaller version of the iPhone that would give users a truly pocket-sized option.

The most recent iPhone 5 rumor suggests that, “The iPhone ‘Lite’, whose name is yet to be confirmed, will feature components that are native to the iPhone 4, except smaller and cheaper.” This rumor, which purportedly comes from “sources familiar with the matter,” are completely unconfirmed, and are just a likely to have come from an underpaid customer service representative at an AT&T kiosk at the mall than anyone inside the walls of Cupertino.

The new rumor seeks to substantiate the rumor by stating that “the target markets of the so-called iPhone ‘Lite’ are those in developing countries, where a lower price point would prove more effective than piling on the technology,” and that “Charlie Wolf, with Needham & Company told Bloomberg that ‘Apple’s strategy is changing from targeting 25 per cent of the global mobile phone market…to 100 per cent.’”

Even if lowering the price point of the iPhone to accommodate developing countries’ ec0nomies indeed is a prevailing goal at Apple, Inc., there is no reason to believe that Apple would in fact offer a value-priced version of the new iPhone 5, when the company is most likely preparing to discount the iPhone upon the release of the iPhone 5. In this way, the iPhone 4 will become the “iPhone lite” that comprises this rumor.

Furthermore, if Apple was to release an iPhone 5, iPhone 5 “lite,” and keep selling the iPhone 4, it would present a complex and confusing set of choices for iPhone customers, who would find it difficult to discern the real difference in quality and performance between an iPhone 5 “lite” that would “feature components that are native to the iPhone 4″ and the original iPhone 4 itself.

Another consideration is that two versions of the iPhone 5 may dilute the market impact of the much-anticipated device.

What do you think? Would you find a smaller, cheaper iPhone 5 “lite” or “nano” desireable, or are smaller mobile phones “so 1998?”