
While speaking at his company’s shareholders meeting recently, Pegatron CEO T.H. Tung said Apple’s rumored low cost iPhone won’t be a budget offering, seemingly confirming speculation that the handset will be sold as a higher-end middle tier device. The executive mentioned that products currently on the market can carry a number of names, but “cheap” is not one that should be associated with Apple’s less expensive iPhone. He went on to say that compared to feature phones, smartphones are increasingly offering more value for the price.
The statements seem to confirm previous reports that Pegatron is handling at least a portion of the as-yet announced iPhone’s manufacturing. A report previously claimed that Pegatron is preparing to hire roughly 400,000 workers sometime in the second half of 2013, adding fuel to the low-cost iPhone fire.
As of right now, analysts and media sources are divided as to which of Apple’s partners will be responsible for the majority of production, with some claiming Foxconn is likely to pull most of the burden. KGI analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo said that the two companies will nearly split manufacturing duties for the low-cost version, while Pegatron would be taking on a bigger share of continued iPhone 4 and 4S production.
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see but if the “low-cost iPhone isn’t a budget offering, than it might cannibalize into the sales of older iPhone models.
Source: China Times via Macotakara
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