While the Android world awaits news of the next Nexus 7, Moto X, Droid Ultra, Droid mini and Droid MAXX the iPhone news machine keeps spinning. There are rumors of iPhone 5S release dates and other product introductions as well as sales figures showing growth of the original iPhone 4.
iPhone 5S, iPad 5 & iPad mini retina Fall in Fall?
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, believes that the iPhone 5S won't ship until September in limited quantities.
Kuo believes iPhone 5S will experience production difficulties among numerous components as well as assembly, as seen with iPhone 5 last year. The model will likely be available only in limited quantities after its release date. Supplies should improve in October or November.
Kuo also reported that Apple’s low cost iPhone, with $450 to $550 price tag, will be released in early September about the same time the fifth generation iPad. Kuo suspects that a low-cost iPad mini with a Retina screen can only be released as soon as December.
The cheaper iPhone called "Plastic" can ship as many as 26 million units in 2013, noted the analyst.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has been experimenting with different larger devices including a larger iPhone and a iPad as large as 13 inches. These prototype may or may not ever go into production.
Old is the New New for iPhone 4 4S.
In June, the iPhone 5 was only nine months old, however it lost sales to the nearly three-year old and a 21-month old model iPhones, according Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. The iPhone 5 represents only 52% of iPhone sales in the second quarter, see chart below.
The iPhone 4, s released in June 2010, has increased its popularity since the debut of its successors. To buyers the iPhone 4 and 4S look alike.
Between April and June found that the iPhone 5 accounted for 52 percent of all iPhones sold in the United States. Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S accounted for about 30 percent, and the iPhone 4 about 18 percent.
The company believes that the U.S. market does not need a cheaper iPhone. “The legacy iPhones at reduced prices are selling well and doing an outstanding job of introducing new customers to the iPhone and Apple ecosystem. While 55 percent of iPhone 5 buyers already owned an iPhone, only 30 percent of iPhone 4S buyers and 22 percent of iPhone 4 buyers were prior iPhone owners” CIRP co-founder Josh Lowitz told AllThingsD.
We made several comparisons and if you want to keep your iPhone 5 over time Virgin Mobile. and Straight Talk are then cheapest deals around.
