A Wall Street analyst is reporting that, following a meeting with Apple’s CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, she expects to see a lower priced iPhone in the future that would expand Apple’s customer base in Brazil and China (via BusinessInsider). The analyst, Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, communicated the results of her meeting with the Apple CFO in a note to investors. The reasoning given behind the China/Brazil expansion is that the Chinese consumers perfer to purchase the latest version of Apple devices, rather than purchasing discounted older devices such as the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4.
In addition, the analyst sees the ‘iPhone Mini’ as being an incremental contributor to revenue and gross proft.
The report is consistent with previous rumors suggesting that Apple is working on a less costly version of the iPhone that can be launched in developing markets with a view to increasing Apple’s market share. Only recently, analyst Gene Munster suggested that Apple could be launching a $199 iPhone as early as September to compete in markets such as China and India.
A Big Expansion…