I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Apple wants to sell more iPhones - and quarterly iPhone sales are the metric that many are using to measure how the Cupertino giant is performing - then it needs to release a cheaper iPhone.
And I don't mean some hack device like the iPhone 5c or the iPhone SE.
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KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has an excellent track record when it comes to knowing where Apple is headed, sent out a note to investors claiming that Apple may be planning to release two variants of a 6.1-inch iPhone in 2018[2]. One variant would come with dual SIM card compatibility, and the other would only support a single SIM card.
Now that itself seems like a big departure for Apple. After all, right now there isn't a dual SIM handset in the iPhone line up. Dual SIM handsets are popular in China, and could give Apple a leg up in this highly lucrative market.
But Kuo claims that there's a bigger difference separating the two devices - price.
"6.1-inch LCD iPhone may have model that supports DSDS. If the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone comes with DSDS and single-SIM models, we believe it will result in two benefits: (1) more price segments would be created, significantly boosting shipments via the low-price single-SIM model. For instance, if the DSDS model sells for US$650-750, the single-SIM model may sell for US$550-650; and (2) the DSDS model will help increase market share in China and commercial markets."
Here's the position that Apple is currently in. The company's health is measured in