A possible low cost iPhone could generate $6.5 billion in 2013

[RaduTyrsina]

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This week more rumors about Apple working on a cheaper version of its iconic iPhone have surfaced. Now, more details about the upcoming device are starting to be unraveled. For example, the most recent batch of hearsay indicates that the smartphone will probably be sold contract free.

Piper Jaffray’s analyst Gene Munster has joined in the discussions about the low cost iPhone and in a recent note has provided a few predictions of his own. For example, unlike other reports who see the phone being priced somewhere between $99 and $149, he expects the device to be charged at around $199.

Even at the price predicted by Munster, the price-cut would be a really significant one. A contract free iPhone 4 costs, to this date, $450 in the United States, while in countries like China or Brazil, who apply major taxes, they can jump up to $490 and even $750. Munster goes on to speculate that the low cost iPhone would probably end up being extremely popular amongst customers, especially in emerging markets. That’s why he foresees a growth of 30% in all iPhone sales in 2013 if Cupertino can keep up with the rumored schedule and releases the device.

At the same time, he believes that if a cheaper version of the Apple smartphone will appear on the market, the average price of the full blown iPhone will have to drop from around $640 to $520 or so.

Source: AppleInsider

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