Analysts expect the current iPhone 4 to subsume 3GS as the entry-level offering.
The latter will re-use most of the components found in today’s iPhone 4, replacing the $99 iPhone 3GS as the entry-level iPhone. Sporting “minor improvements”, iPhone4-plus is said to cater to low-income markets, specifically China whose 1.33 billion population represents an untapped potential for the Cupertino, California firm. J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz:
Of iPhone 5, Moskowitz wrote:
The device should basically be a thinner, lighter worldphone (GSM+CDMA) sans the fourth-generation LTE radio technology (which, it increasingly appears, will debut with iPhone 6). The note also backs up reports of an eight-megapixel camera with LED flash on iPhone 5 and a larger screen compared to the iPhone 4’s 3.5-inch Retina Display.
An iPhone 5 case from a Chinese maker that got it right on the iPhone 4 launch. Thanks, SulfoDK!
The addition of carriers T-Mobile and Sprint in the United States and potential deals with China Telecom and other carriers in China should result in “a big bang” when the two new iPhones launch in September, Moskowitz concludes. China Telecom is reportedly readying a $235 million ad blitz ahead of iPhone 5. Apple currently deals only with China Unicom, the country’s third-largest wireless operator, but frequently China Telecom and China Mobile are being mentioned in relation to the next iPhone. Last week the New York Times joined the craze, re-iterating the blogosphere buzz about two iPhones in September.
