Apple plans cheaper, Nano-based phone: JP Morgan
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Apple Inc. plans to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone in the fourth quarter that could be based on the ultra-slim iPod Nano music player, according to a JP Morgan report.
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Users may see an iPhone with 3G technology in the next six months, a financial analyst said Monday, citing waning inventory of Apple&#39;s current iPhone and the increasing demand in Europe for 3G products.The iPhone shipments are likely to be weak during the March quarter, and inclusion of 3G technology in the phone could ensure that Apple meets its target of shipping 10 million iPhones in 2008, analyst Richard Gardner of Citigroup said in a research note on Monday. 3G is a high-speed wireless communications standard that provides broadband Internet capabilities to cell phones and mobile devices.An iPhone upgrade to include 3G technology could help the company forge more relationships with carriers as it builds a European presence. &quot;We believe that lack of 3G has been a significant headwind for iPhone in Europe where 3G is already pervasive,&quot; Gardner said.During meetings with Citigroup, Apple reiterated its plan to introduce the iPhone into additional European countries and Asia by the end of 2008, Gardner said.In a December report, Shaw Wu of American Technology Research said a 3G iPhone would likely ship around the middle or in the second half of this year after network coverage and battery life issues are addressed.During the iPhone rollout in the U.K. last year, Jobs said that 3G chips were &quot;power hogs&quot; but also said he expected to see better battery consumption this year. Chip vendors, including Broadcom and Arm, are developing power-efficient 3G mobile chips with multimedia capabilities.3G is still not widely deployed in the U.S., Wu wrote in a report. Apple could possibly position the new iPhone as a high-end smart phone with the current iPhone being shipped as a more mainstream product, Wu said.Apple&#39;s 3G plans in the U.S. could get a boost from AT&amp;T&#39;s announcement last week that it was expanding its 3G wireless coverage to 350 major U.S. markets, including all 100 of the largest cities.Until the iPhone becomes available in more countries, unlocking numbers will remain high. But as the iPhone&#39;s presence expands, &quot;most consumers will prefer to use iPhone on the network with which Apple has a relationship -- only then can they take advantage of innovative features, such as visual voicemail and ongoing software updates,&quot; Gardner said.Up to 35 percent of all iPhones sold since its launch in June have been unlocked and sold in countries where Apple does not yet have a formal relationship with a wireless carrier, Citigroup&#39;s Gardner said.There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the release of a 3G iPhone. Last year, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson separately said a 3G iPhone was coming in 2008, though the exact date is shrouded in secrecy.
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Japan's Softbank Corp said on Wednesday   it has begun offering an Apple Computer Inc. iPod nano packaged   with one of its own mobile phones.
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Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs apologized and offered $100 credits Thursday to customers who shelled out $599 for the most advanced model of the iPhone, only to have the company unexpectedly slash the price $200 in a push to boost holiday sales.
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Steve Jobs on Wednesday unveiled the new iPod touch, essentially a phone-less version of the iPhone, at a press event in San Francisco. Jobs also announced a $200 price cut for the 8-GB version of the iPhone, which he said was the more popular version.
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Apple Inc  on Wednesday said the company was cutting the price of its iPhone and was on track to sell one million phones before the end of September.
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Apple Computer Inc.  is widely expected to unveil cheaper portable music players and Macintosh computers next week at its annual trade show as it seeks to change from a niche technology player to the mainstream champion of the "digital life."
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Investor's Business Daily - Apple Computer's   new product announcements are often presaged by buzz that the company will release a low-cost device. And every time, the rumormongers are wrong. Until now.
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HTC's Touch, to be released in November, will undercut Apple's price.
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(InfoWorld) - Sales ofÂ Apple's iPhoneÂ and new iPods slated for release later this year will mark the end of cheap flash memory for a time, and that means users may see fewer bargains on older digital music players or bundled flash memory cards. The iPhone took off to a stellar start in its first weekend, asÂ users braved long linesÂ and the weather for a chance to buy one of the smartphones. Estimates vary, but at least one investment house, Goldman Sachs Group, believes sales the first weekend reached an astounding 700,000 units, and mainly on iPhones with 8GB of NAND flash memory on board for data storage. That's a lot more flash memory than the average handset, which normally comes with just 60MB on board and a slot for flash memory cards. The NAND flash memory market could see even more pressure later this year if Apple chooses to use the chips instead of hard disc drives in its new lineup of iPods. Apple is expected to release new iPods later this year, including one that can download songs wirelessly using Wi-Fi, and has a touchscreen system similar to the iPhone, analysts say. Such new devices will not only likely attract buying from Apple's usual fan base, but could also put pressure on the NAND flash memory chip market. The market for NAND Flash memory chips, which store songs, pictures, and other data in consumer electronics devices even when power is turned off, is in oversupply right now, so prices are relatively low and users can still find good deals on flash memory cards and see the usual price declines for older digital music players. If prices for NAND flash riseÂ later this year, it will indirectly affect users. Most likely, users might not see as many bargains on digital music players or mobile phones with built-in memory in the final months of the year, or perhaps fewer offers for free flash cards with the purchase of a new digital camera or other product. For example, if iPhone sales hit 5 million by the end of the year, with an average of 6GB per phone, that would be 30 million extra gigabytes of demand, said Mark Leatham, director for flash marketing at Kingston Technology Company, a flash product maker. Currently, the average mobile phone ships with around 60MB of flash on-board, so that 30 million is equivalent to around an extra 500 million phones hitting the market. NAND Flash prices are already rising, this just adds to the demand, he said. In fact, iPhone sales kicked off with such a bang that the handset itself could move NAND flash memory prices higher. iSuppli believes strong sales of the handset will continue, and the market researcher estimates iPhone shipments to exceed 4.5 million units this year, and then go on to reach more than 30 million by 2011, according to Tina Teng, wireless communications analyst at the company. Other market watchers, such as Goldman Sachs, have even more bullish shipment estimates for the iPhone. The investment banking firm forecasts iPhone sales could reach 5.25 million by the end of this year. The key for the flash industry is iPod sales, in addition to mobile phone sales, according to DRAMeXchange Technology. The fourth quarter is usually the strongest time of year for handset and iPod sales due to the holiday season, and Apple will need to start stocking up on flash memory in the third quarter to make sure its ready for such heavy demand. If, on top of expected iPhone and iPod demand, Apple puts out new iPods that use only flash memory, Apple could account for 25 percent of quarterly flash memory output, the industry researcher says. That kind of demand could really solve the glut problem in the industry and send flash memory prices higher. What's more troubling for users is this may be the start of a longer term trend with regard to higher NAND flash memory prices. Many analysts expect the iPhone to cause a few changes in the mobile phone industry, including the use of more multimedia applications on handsets, hence the need for more NAND flash memory for the storage of pictures, songs, video clips and other data. The amount of NAND flash memory used in handsets is expected to grow dramatically, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, by a compound annual rate of more than 200 percent through 2010. NAND flash memory prices have been relatively tame for the past several months due to a glut in the industry. The iPhone, upcoming iPod products and the continued popularity of the chips as the storage of choice for digital cameras and other devices will likely ensure users don't see as many bargains in the future. Most analysts estimate that prices will start rising in the third quarter, which is now, and when companies start making such purchases in the memory chip industry, it only takes a few weeks to a month for the impact to trickle down through the market to end users. Â
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Apple Inc is calling a London news conference next Tuesday as speculation mounts that the U.S. consumer electronics guru will unveil long-awaited plans to bring its iconic iPhone cell phones to Europe.
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SAN JOSE, Calif.  -- Shares of Apple Inc. hit a new all-time trading high Tuesday after an analyst speculated that the company would come out with a less expensive, smaller iPhone later this year.
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Two new iPhones, including a 3G version, could be part of Apple's plans for next year along with a puzzling rumor about Apple TV, according to the financial giant.
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CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos says Apple should think again if it believes it can make a phone to match iPod's success.
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Apple Inc  is playing mobile  operators NTT DoCoMo Inc  and Softbank Corp   against one another on selling the iPhone in Japan, where it  would vie with some of the world's most advanced phones.
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An extensive teardown analysis by research firm iSuppli released this morning on Apple's second generation iPod nano MP3 player announced last week, reveals the company is probably paying 20% less to build this new model than for the previous nano generation.
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Apple Inc.  said on Tuesday  its hotly anticipated iPhone could cost as much as $3,000 with  a required two-year service contract, and a handful of eager  buyers started lining up to spend their money.