Apple’s success with the iPhone and iPhone 3G were recently highlighted when the company released it’s financial statements just last week. But, Apple’s method of accounting for the iPhone 3G’s financial contribution on the Cupertino-based company’s bottom line has reduced its perceived impact.
When taking into account Apple’s actual iPhone sales, Apple is making a killing on its iPhone line of mobile phones. That means Apple is making more money on the iPhone than they’ve announced, and they’re dealing with higher profit margins than most (if not all) smartphone manufacturers on Earth. As such, Apple is in a position to significantly drop the price of its entry-level 8GB iPhone 3G handset while still maintaining a profit margin near 50%.
The prevailing winds of speculation on the various interwebs suggest that Apple will be dropping the price of its lowest-end iPhone 3G to just $99 in 2009. The price-cut would enable Apple to go after a much larger market share – specifically, the demographic that wants an iPhone but just can’t afford the $200 price-tag. And, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to think that Apple will introduce a more high-end addition to the iPhone 3G lineup.
We’ve speculated that Apple might be working on a high-resolution version of its iPhone 3G for release next year. The iPhone HD, as many have come to call it, may feature a WVGA or VGA touchscreen (capacitance-based) to help fend off advances from the likes of the HTC Touch HD. A higher megapixel camera isn’t out of the question either.
It’s almost an accepted reality that Apple will introduce an iPhone 3G with more storage capacity to keep consumers interested in the iPhone 3G – the current range-topping 16GB iPhone 3G would be replaced by a 32GB iPhone 3G. Although, it remains to be seen if the 32GB iPhone 3G and the speculated iPhone HD will be one and same handset.
In the end, we’re expecting an 8GB iPhone 3G for $99, 16GB iPhone 3G for $199, and a 32GB iPhone 3G (possibly iPhone HD?) for $299 or more in 2009. Of course, a healthy spoonful of salt is in order here.