Apple To Ditch iPhone 5 In Favor Of iPhone 5C; iPhone 4S To Stay A Little Longer

As we continue to count down the days until September 10th’s all-but confirmed unveiling of the new iPhone, an interesting tidbit has just surfaced courtesy of KGI Securities’ resident Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Up until now, it was thought the iPhone 5S would retail alongside the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5C as Apple’s three options available to prospective consumers. However Kuo believes that instead, Apple could ditch the iPhone 5 completely, rather opting to keep the iPhone 4S running momentarily as the third-in-command to the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C respectively.

Kuo is usually spot-on with his analyses of goings-on pertaining the Cupertino, as well as noting that the iPhone 5 will be discontinued from the end of Q3, believes the iPhone 4S will be shipped until at least the end of the year.

iPhone-logo

As the flagship model, Apple expects the iPhone 5S to be the most popular of the new entrants, shipping many more units than the lower-budget iPhone 5C. But the move to oust the iPhone 5 will come as a surprise to many, especially given that the iPhone 4S has been around for double the length of time of the current top-end model.

It’s not the first time we’ve heard that the iPhone 5’s days may be numbered, but while it doesn’t necessarily tie-in with the company’s usual strategies, it does make a degree of sense from a business point of view. After all, if the iPhone 5S does, as we expect, take a similar shape to the iPhone 5, the inclination upon consumers to purchase it over the iPhone 5 will be greatly reduced, but with the iPhone 5 out of the picture and only the polycarbonate iPhone 5C and antiquated iPhone 4S for company, one suspects that the market will be drawn to the top-spec device.

iPhone 5

The iPhone 5S is expected to offer a fingerprint sensor amid a flurry of internal updates like a 12-megapixel camera and faster processor. With a champagne color configuration and 128GB storage option to boot, the iPhone 5S could truly stand head and shoulders above its peers – particularly if the iPhone 5 is not counted among them.

Naturally, it’s only sensible to approach the report of Apple ditching an 11-month-old device with a degree of skepticism, but given Kuo’s stripes as one of the more accurate analysts, it could well be that the current blockbuster is on its way out.

Thoughts?

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