Apple Meets With Analysts, Hints At Cheaper iPhone And Reprogrammable SIMs

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iphone nano

As they are sometimes wont to do, Apple met with analysts last week to discuss — if not their plans — than at least the current state of corporate thinking and strategizing, giving an indirect glimpse into the future as Apple sees it.

One of those analysts, Toni Sacconaghi of Bernestein Research, has now issued a note about her meeting with COO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and VP Eddy Cue… and according to Toni, Apple’s strongly hinting at a cheaper iPhone nano coming soon.

Referring to the iPhone as the “mother of all halos” for how it has brought millions of new customers to Apple products, Cook said that Apple would not “cede any markets” and “appeared to reaffirm the notion that Apple is likely to develop lower priced offerings” to expand the iPhone market.

In particular, Cook said that they were doing “clever things” to address the prepaid market, and that Apple did not want its products to be “just for the rich.” It also said that they were aiming to greatly expand the number of carriers the iPhone was available upon.

Most interestingly, Sacconaghi says that Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer claimed that Apple would no longer let carriers dictate terms, which may reinforce the notion that Apple is looking to “act to disintermediate carriers” with a reprogrammable soft SIM module.

All together, the report indicates strongly that Apple intends on variegating the iPhone line sooner rather than later, similarly to the iPod line. If true, June might not see the announcement of one iPhone, but two or more.

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