Will the long awaited budget iPhone touch down this summer?
Apple’s cheap iPhone could well be on the cards as rumours of a cut-price handset kick into overdrive amid reports manufacturer Pegatron has added 40,000 new staff.
Despite reportedly facing a drop in profits following a slow in iPad mini demand, Apple’s manufacturing partner Pegatron is seemingly set to add 40 per cent to its already 100,000 people strong Chinese workforce, a move that has sparked speculation around an upcoming cheaper budget iPhone launch.
Set to introduce the additional manpower in the second half of the year, Pegatron has hinted that Apple could be prepping the launch a number of new products towards the end of the year with the manufacturer’s CFO Charles Lin stating 60 per cent of the company’s revenue would be generated after June.
Cheap iPhone Rumours
Widely anticipated to touch down later this summer as Apple’s answer to the recent rise of mid-market Android handsets, the cheap iPhone looks set to be tasked with bringing more users to the Apple ecosystem, offering a more wallet friendly entry point to the profitably likes of iTunes and the Apple App Store.
With repeated rumours pointing towards a late summer cheap iPhone release, it has been claimed that the stripped back device could land alongside the iPhone 6 in September, with the handset tipped to feature the same 4-inch screen as the current iPhone 5.
Although hosting the same display panel, it is expected that any cheap iPhone will feature a lower grade camera and slower dual-core processor than its high-end sibling.
Despite being all but guaranteed to be a hit with consumers, recent reports have claimed that a budget iPhone will be in short supply at launch with less than 3 million handset set to be produced in time for release.
Speaking earlier in the year, Apple Senior VP Phil Schiller played down the importance of a cheap iPhone stating: “Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products. Every product Apple creates, we consider using only the best technology available.”
Can’t decide whether to hold out for a cheap iPhone or make the most of what’s currently available? Take a look at our iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 head-to-head to see which lead phone we would recommend.
Via: AppleInsider
