Not just for the rich?
Another report has surfaced that Apple is set to expand the market for its iPhone with a cheaper offering.
Forbes reported that a Bernstein Research analyst called Toni Sacconaghi said Apple is likely to develop lower-priced products after a meeting with its COO Tim Cook, VP of internet services Eddy Cue and the firm's CFO, Peter Oppenheimer.
He told the newspaper that Apple is focused on ‘the right things,' which appear to be expanding its iPhone's reach and capitalising on the demand for its iPad tablets.
Forbes reported that according to Sacconaghi's report, Cook re-emphasised that Apple will probably develop ‘lower priced offerings' to bring the iPhone to more people and is reportedly planning ‘clever things' to tackle the pre-paid market.
Currently an unlocked iPhone will set consumers back around £600 for the 32GB model, putting it out of many people's reach, but Cook reportedly said Apple does not want its wares to be 'just for the rich.' There were rumours of an iPhone Mini but these seem to have disappeared.
Apparently Cook credits the iPhone with producing the ‘mother of all halos' as it increased the sales of Apple's other products and bolstered the desirability of the brand. He reportedly added that the company has put ‘huge energy' into getting into China's ‘classic prepaid market'.
Moving onto tablets, Forbes reported that Cook predicts the tablet market will be much bigger than the PC market and Sacconaghi in turn reportedly reckons that if the prediction proves true, the iPad tablet part of Apple could be worth around $60 to $100bn.
Acknowledging other players rapidly piling into the tablet market, most notably Motorola with its Xoom slate, Cook reportedly said he expects even more competition in the tablet market than there is in the smartphone arena, with all PC and phone vendors likely to bring out their own tablet products.
However, he apparently said that Apple has a decent head start and has interesting things in the pipeline. As we are expecting the unveiling of the iPad 2 this week, it will be interesting to see whether there are any surprises than the general predictions of the firm simply adding a camera and making it a bit faster and slimmer.
If not, it would appear that the iPad 3 might be more special, which is rumoured to launch this Autumn.
Forbes reported that the analyst's report also said that Apple has set its sights on carrier expansion, as Oppenheimer has apparently noted that Apple has 175 carriers, versus RIM's 550.
