So the rumours aren’t true. In an interview with a Chinese newspaper, Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller said that cheaper smartphones are not in the company’s future.
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In the interview, the SVP remarked that with “every product that Apple creates, we consider using only the best technology available. This includes the production pipeline, the Retina display, the unibody design, to provide the best product to the market.”
The rumours hit tech sites earlier this week with reports in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. According to the Bloomberg report: “Apple plans to sell a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone as soon as this year, said a person familiar with the plans, part of a push to gain customers in developing nations.”
Schiller said that Apple’s game plan is not to capture the market share with less expensive devices but the quality of its products. “We are not like other companies, launching multiple products at once, then hoping one will get the attention of consumers.”
“At first, non-smartphones were popular in the Chinese market, now cheap smartphones are more popular and non-smartphones are out,” said the Apple exec. “Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products. In fact, although Apple’s market share of smartphones is just about 20%, we own the 75% of the profit.”
The Next Web has confirmed with Apple that this is indeed a genuine interview. Though Schiller says Apple will never be the future of Apple products, rumours around a less pricey iPhone have been circulating since 2011.
[Hat Tip: TNW]
