$US99 iPhone slated for midyear

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 11 February 2009 04:23

Opinion and Analysis

Predictions and rumours of a cheaper iPhone won't go away. But does the latest scenario make sense?

The idea of an iPhone nano attracted a lot of coverage late last year, but failed to materialise.

Now, a market analyst is tipping the midyear arrival of a third-generation iPhone 3G, along with a cost-reduced model that he predicts will sell for $US99.

RBC analyst Mark Abramsky began talking about an entry level iPhone last September, but has now fleshed out the idea.

He's predicting the $US99 model will drop the 3G and GPS capabilities found in the current iPhone 3G and may sacrifice some camera resolution. Memory capacity would be restricted to 8G.

This sounds suspiciously like the return of the original iPhone.

Two particular questions are raised by this prediction, so please read on.