Apple iPhone Mini: Why It Makes Sense

Recent reports suggest that we might be seeing a brand new iPhone Mini. On several viewpoints, a release of the said phone could damage Apple, but on another perspective, if they execute and market it right, it could be another hit.

Why Make One?

The Google Nexus 7 triggered a price war in the tablet space. Those who didn’t want to spend too much money on a tablet suddenly had a new option other than the iPad and the high-end Android tablets. As an indirect reply, Apple released an affordable and smaller iPad, the iPad Mini.

We never thought that we’d see an iPad Mini as Apple once claimed that smaller tablets didn’t make sense. It looks like times have changed.

Google, once again, triggers another one with the Nexus 4, the high-end phone with an affordable price tag (but the distribution is somewhat a failure). This could be one of the reasons why an iPhone Mini could make sense.

But wait, cheaper iPhones already exist. The iPhone 3GS & the iPhone 4 already takes that spot. Also, these phones already have 3.5-inch displays. Where does the iPhone Mini fit in all of this?

Who Would Buy One?

The iPhone 5’s screen size is now at 4-inches, and all the older iPhones have smaller screens. Even by current standards, 4-inches might be considered small. Who wants an iPhone Mini – when you can just get an old iPhone?

Most of the people want their things to be ‘up-to-date’. Users hate having to update their phones on a very short time frame, which is why an iPhone Mini might become a hit.

The situation is very similar to the iPad Mini. Lesser people now want the 1st & 2nd gen iPads as they would rather opt for the iPad Mini – which has very similar specs.

What Will It Be Like?

Recent rumors suggest that a more colorful iPhone line may be due this year in the form of the iPhone 5S. However, some other reports say that an iPhone 6 (with iOS 7) may be in the works right now with another redesign and a much bigger screen.

Whether there is true or not, a sleek redesign of the 3.5-inch iPhone may attract enough consumers for it to be successful.

A lot of reports have already mentioned that each Apple iPhone 5 may have a production cost of approximately $200 (Php 8000+) – which is enough to conclude that an affordable iPhone could be indeed reproduced.

Just repackage the iPhone 4S internals in a different body with a cheaper production process and voila! We have an iPhone Mini.

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