Apple will not release a large-screened "phablet" phone to compete with arch-rival Samsung this year, according to analysts, as the odds narrow that the technology group will release a cheaper iPhone to capture the pay-as-you-go market.
Speculation over Apple's next big move is rife as a number of potential candidates – such as Apple TV or the iWatch – fall by the wayside. Having bought time from investors with the announcement last month of a $55bn (£35.3bn) share buyback, the company is expected to take a less radical development route by focusing on a cheaper, rather than larger, iPhone.
"The odds this year of a larger iPhone are zero," says Neil Mawston, executive director of the analysis company Strategy Analytics. Describing the new product as the iPhone 5S, he added: "That's what we're hearing from our supply chain sources in the Far East. It seems the iPhone 5S will be pretty similar to the iPhone 5."
About 25m "phablets" – defined as smartphones with screens of more than 5 inch diagonal length – were sold in 2012, according to IHS iSuppli, which forecasts that sales will hit 60m this year amid strong demand for Samsung's Galaxy Note. That compares to forecasts of total smartphone sales of 908m in 2013.
However there is growing anticipation that Apple will offer a cheaper iPhone to attract new buyers unable to afford the top-end devices. Steve Brazier, chief executive of Canalys, says Apple would benefit by offering phones in different designs and colours – as it did with the second generation of its best-selling iMac desktop computers in 1999. "Why should business people carry the same phone as teenagers?" Brazier asks. "Kids don't want the same phone as their dads."
With the smartphone market growing less rapidly than it has, analysts also question whether there is enough demand for a high-end Apple phone as prices are driven down by cheaper phones using Google's Android operating system – Samsung's main platform.
Source: The Guardian
