Tim Cook has reiterated Apple’s firm stance on a budget iPhone, stating the company will never produce one.
Following the launch of the so-called “lower cost” iPhone 5C, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been adamant about Apple’s focus on high-end devices.
Cook believes that the low-end, budget smartphone market is an entirely separate beast to the one in which Apple and its competitors like Samsung and HTC vie for supremacy.
Prior to the iPhone 5C launch, Apple was widely predicted to launch a smartphone with a price rivalling the mid-range Samsung Galaxy S4 mini and HTC One mini around the £350 mark.
In fact, the iPhone 5C, which is available to pre-order now ahead of its release date on Friday September 20, launches with a price tag starting at £469 for a 16GB model.
“There’s a segment of the market that really wants a product that does a lot for them, and I want to compete like crazy for those customers. I’m not going to lose sleep over that other market, because it’s just not who we are. Fortunately, both of these markets are so big, and there are so many people that care and want a great experience from their phone or their tablet, that Apple can have a really good business.”
The cheaper of the new iPhone models launched last week, the iPhone 5C comes clad in a colourful hard-coated polycarbonate casing fitted around a reinforced steel structure for rigidity.
It has a 4-inch Retina display running iOS 7 and is powered by the same 1.3GHz dual-core A6 CPU as the previous flagship iPhone 5.
Offering with the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and 4G connectivity options, the iPhone 5C is available with the option of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage.
Next, read our iOS 7 tips and tricks.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
