Contrary to yesterday’s rumors, a new analyst report suggests that the iPhone 3GS will remain the low-end iPhone even after the iPhone 5 drops in September… making it the first iPhone to spend over three years on the market.
“In other words, we believe that the [existing] 3GS will be the low-end iPhone,” BMO Capital’s Keith Bachman writes Tuesday. Monday, Deutshe Bank’s Chris Whitmore told investors a low-end iPhone 4S that was unlocked and pre-paid could help Apple “aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market” as RIM and Nokia are on life-support.
Bachman’s comments appear to bring some sanity back into the discussion. As we intimated Monday, the idea of releasing the iPhone 4S as a $350 unlocked phone just didn’t make sense when Apple is currently selling the unlocked iPhone 4 for nearly $700 each. Still, it’s interesting that the hardware price on the iPhone 4 has yet to come down enough to make it worth Apple selling at a lower price. You can probably thank the Retina Display for that.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
24 responses to “iPhone 3GS Will Still Be The Low-End iPhone Even After iPhone 5”
You are so wrong here about … well everything.
The iPhone 3Gs is not going to still be on the market when the next model comes out, the iPhone 4 is going to be reduced in price just like last year’s iPhone and become the new low-end model just like every year. In regards *this* year’s iPhone, we actually have *no* reliable information at all beyond the fact that it’s almost certainly a “world phone” and will use the same general form-factor as the iPhone 4.
We are more likely to see an iPhone nano than we are to see the 3Gs hang around.
Not saying you’re wrong because your train of thought is consistent with past moves by Apple but if you take the supply chain into account the 3GS is probably infinitely easier/cheaper to make then the iP4. Having it as the low cost entry phone does make some sense. It’s also a lot sturdier then the iP4 and does not suffer the same antenna issues. If you were going to make an entry level device, the cheaper easier one to manufacture would make more sense.
… WHY ? WHY for the love of god aren’t there iPhones with backs like this one ????
The iPhone 3GS is in no way “sturdier” than the iPhone 4. It is plastic that has about two connection points. I still have the 3GS and it is cracked all over the back and pieces of plastic are flaking off. There is no way the 3GS is sturdier than the iPhone 4.
Antenna issues are overblown. My iPhone 3GS does the same thing.
Most likely the case is cheap to make and the display is a little cheaper, so they might keep those aspects whilst updating the motherboard inside to be more up to date and be iOS 5 capable (slower A5 with 512MB maybe versus a potential 1GHz+ A5 with 1GB on the iPhone 5). At some point it is just a fatter iPod Touch with added telephony. Doesn’t the iPod Touch have a retina display anyway (albeit a lower quality one)?
Considering that the edge of the back is still black, I’m guessing its either a skin (a decal in essence) or a photoshop job.
When the 3GS is available for free on the AT&T network, you will know that it has completed its run. Until then they will continue selling it for $49.00 (under contract), even after the release of the iPhone 5. I suspect the 4 will drop to a mid-range price point. Probably between $99.00 and $149.00 to compete with Wal-mart.
Won’t happen. They flattened out the i4 to accommodate a larger, thinner battery because of the A4’s processing power. The 3GS battery life sucked with its processor, can you imagine what kind of a drain an A4 or A5 chip would have on the same battery???
I hope this is the case. I’m perfectly happy with my 3GS, and wouldn’t mind seeing them being sold a little longer. It’s a good phone, and still having it around puts the iPhone in the reach of more people on a limited budget (cause there’s no way I could afford £40-£60 a month for an iPhone 4).
Even if the 4 did become the new budget phone, I doubt it would be as cheap as the 3GS is straight away.
no it’s not. You can buy these metal replacement covers that comes in a variety of colors from Hong Kong.
Yup…that is exactly where I bought the back cover for my iphone 4g :)