The overworked 2011 rumor of an “el cheap-o” iPhone Nano to accompany the full-fledged iPhone 5 has reemerged, with Asian sources claiming to have seen components for a low-cost counterpart to this year’s new iPhone offering.
For the better part of the 2011 summer, the tech media considered the notion that Apple would release two smartphones — the pro-version iPhone 5 and an el cheap-o iPhone 4S to go along with it. The iPhone 5 News Blog never really got it: having the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 4 (and maybe even iPhone 3GS) would be one (or to) iPhone(s) too many. Of course, in the end, we ended up with what would have been the middle grade iPhone, anyway. But at least consumers weren’t left with the conundrum of having to choose from all those iPhones.
But if we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that any iPhone 5 rumor in 2011 is fair game for 2012. And the newest regurgitated rumor is once again that the iPhone 5 will have a cheaper-priced “Nano” counterpart.
Is there anything more compelling about the el cheap-o iPhone Nano rumor this year that makes it more believable?
SlashGear reported later today, “It’s the ‘iPhone nano’ that we’re hearing about today, straight from the China Times to your doorstep. This tip comes from that continent and suppliers which remain unnamed saying that they are, indeed, creating units which point to a low-cost entry-level iPhone for the next generation iPhone 5 this fall.”
I took a look at the original China Times article via Google Translate and lost a few thousand brain cells in the process. What seems apparent is that there are absolutely no details surrounding the rumors — they are simply coming out of the manufacturing sector of China. What makes these purported iPhone units “low cost” might point to the components being used — not necessarily a smaller “nano” design that would be cheaper, much like how the rumored “Mini iPad” would be cheaper, thanks in part to a smaller screen.
SlashGear anticipates the fishiness of this rumor as being a by-product of the Mini iPad speculation, and I tend to agree: “This tip may well come right on time with the iPad Mini being tipped as well, wouldn’t you say?” I would say that making a case for a “Mini iPad” and “Nabo iPhone” — while perhaps the driving force behind these rumors — is like comparing apples and oranges. While the Mini iPad would debut into a market already inhabited by similarly sized and priced tablets, a Nano iPhone has no real analogue. Besides which, Apple has proven that it does not need to lower prices or offer lower-priced products in order to turn a buck — in the west, that is. The only possible consideration for Apple to produce a lower-priced iPhone this year in my opinion would be to cater to developing nations, who otherwise cannot afford the premium pricing of new iPhone models. But all in all, I find it highly doubtful that Apple will — or will ever — co-release a New iPhone. I expect 2012 to feature the iPhone 5, 4S, and 4, with the latter being the ultra value-priced “legacy” model
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