Apple is hosting its annual iPhone launch event tonight at its Cupertino, California headquarter. Tonight’s event is special in more ways than one. This could possibly be the first time that Apple would launch two new iPhone models instead of the customary one. It will also mark the new iOS 7 platform, which is also the first time Apple has overhauled the platform since its introduction in 2007. Lot is at stake for Apple as its Android rivals, particularly Samsung at the higher end and Asian OEMs in the lower end, dominating the smartphone space. We have had enough leaks in the past few months that we can confidently reckon that Apple would announce two new iPhones. These have been leaked as the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C. However, there are a few things that we still don’t know that will make a huge difference for both users and Apple. The most critical one would be the pricing of the low-cost iPhone 5C.
New iPhones and iPhone 5C pricing
Apple will have to tread carefully as on one hand it could cannibalize its high-margin marquee iPhone by pricing the cheaper iPhone too low or it could give the cheaper iPhone a not-so-cheap price tag that it becomes irrelevant in non-carrier sudsidized markets like China and India. Apple’s iPhone portfolio will also depend on the price of the iPhone 5C. It will define whether the iPhone 4 is discontinued or the iPhone 5 takes a hit only a year after its launch.
One can expect Apple to do what other brands cannot even dare to consider as an option. One of the popular predictions is that Apple would discontinue the iPhone 5. The innards of the iPhone 5C could be that of the iPhone 5 and priced around Rs 30,000. The iPhone 4S would then be made available below Rs 25,000 and the iPhone 4 around Rs 15,000.
Of course, this could be wrong and as is tradition, Apple discontinues the iPhone 4, slashes the price of the iPhone 4S and introduces the iPhone 5C between the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. In that case, it would be interesting to see what features the iPhone 5C brings to the table that are better than the iPhone 4S but not at par with the iPhone 5. The only one I can think of is the bigger 4-inch display. This would also make the pricing tricky, unless the iPhone 5C is priced lower than the iPhone 4S, which does not make sense for the iPhone 4S’s existence in the portfolio.
This brings me to the third probability, and one I feel strongly about. Apple discontinues both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S and just have a portfolio of iPhone 5 variants. The iPhone 5C becomes the mass market variant priced around Rs 25,000, the iPhone 5 around Rs 35,000, and the iPhone 5S above Rs 45,000. This move would ensure that all iPhones have a 4-inch display, a Lightning connector and would have enough differentiators to appeal to different segments of buyers.
I have some more thoughts about the iPhone 5C. There have been rumors that the iPhone 5C won’t have Siri, which doesn’t make any sense to me. Apple would like to have as many users on Siri as possible as it would help to improve it. With the iPhone 5C expected to be the mass market iPhone, I don’t think Apple would not have Siri on it. I also doubt Apple launching the iPhone 5C in India below Rs 20,000. It is not going to be the “cheap” iPhone everyone expects it to be.
Of course, I could be completely wrong and Apple does something different altogether.
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