Apple just took the wraps off its new iPhones. They’re pricey, as expected and will remain so until the iPhone 7 debuts same time next year. Apple traditionally discounts older iPhones after newer ones are announced. The same is the case this year with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus getting a price cut as they drop in the pecking order. The same is the case for the iPhone 5s. However, the plastic iPhone 5c which was unveiled with emerging markets and the budget-conscious in mind (even though it ended up being insanely expensive anyway) has since been discontinued.
The most recent new iPhone that people who can’t afford the full-on iPhone 6S and 6S Plus price can find is the 16 GB iPhone 5s. It is “free” on contract in the United States but almost everyone everywhere has to pay top dollar for it. Apple could be looking to cash in on the popularity of its iPhone lineup as well as counter the premium smartphone market saturation by introducing a competitively priced 8 GB iPhone 5s in several emerging smartphone markets including India and China. China has in the last one year overtaken the US to become Apple’s biggest iPhone market and is the biggest smartphone market in the world and reports of extreme measures taken by Chinese citizens so as to be able to afford its latest iPhones are not in short supply. India, on the other hand is the hottest smartphone market on the planet right now.
The iPhone 5s, the last of the “small” iPhones from Apple is also the first iPhone to feature Touch ID, the fingerprint scanner built into the home button on the iPhone, is expected to debut in the said emerging markets in an 8 GB storage option by the end of the year.
While there is great conviction that an 8 GB iPhone 5s may be on the way, you’re better off taking this with a pinch of salt.
