Top Apple analyst believes a 4-inch iPhone isn’t worth Apple’s time

By

Will the iPhone 6c be a flop like the 5c?
Would the 4-inch iPhone be a waste of time?
Photo: Gadgetmac/Flickr

We’ve heard plenty of conflicting reports about when we should expect a new smaller, 4-inch iPhone “c” from Apple, but Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster suggests that Cupertino would be wasting its time by releasing a sequel to 2013’s iPhone 5c.

Why? Because, Munster claims, customers don’t really want smaller handsets at all.

In a recent note to clients, Munster acknowledged that Apple may indeed be working on a 4-inch iPhone for 2016, but suggested that Apple would be foolish to go down this avenue.

According to Munster, around 20 percent of smartphone users claim that a 4-inch screen is the perfect size for a smartphone. Getting hung up on these numbers is wrong, however, because most of the people who choose this option are saying it only because they haven’t used a larger screen iPhone before, and are sticking to what they know.

On top of this, Munster says that the different color option selling point of the iPhone “c” models are wasted on customers, since most people put their phone in a case.

Finally, he suggests that — despite rumors that a new 4-inch iPhone would be cheaper than larger models — Apple is unlikely to drop the price to the rumored $450, since this would be a, “change in [Apple’s] philosophy.”

“The reality is that whether the device is real or not doesn’t matter,” Munster writes. “We would not expect Apple to sell significantly more iPhone 6C devices than the typical low-end model (currently the 5S) and would also not expect margins to be significantly different.”

Does Gene Munster have a point, or is this another incorrect Apple prediction for him, like his repeated “it’s just about to ship” Apple television set reports? Leave your comments below.

Via: Business Insider

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.