Why is Apple going back to the past for a better future?

January 13, 2016

Silicon Valley

Rumors are buzzing that Apple is going to upgrade its iPhone 5 family of products with a new offering (lets call it iPhone 5e). This model incorporates some of the elements that have been a hit with the newer models such as the iPhone 6/ 6s family. Details of such a product appeared first in a Chinese web site cnBeta (via MacRumors).

Here is a short list of features in the upcoming iPhone 5e.

A8 processor, 1 gigabyte of memory – This processor was used in iPhone 6/ 6 plus and gives the capabilities of a faster performance along with improved connectivity.

Apple Pay support – Adding this, along with a lower entry price point would now instantly enable millions of consumers (read India, China) to start using their phone instead of a credit card. Google, even though they were early have not yet caught the imagination of the users as much as ApplePay has.

New color option, 16/64 GB models, and VoLTE – Some of the newer colors such as the Rose/ Gold finish, which were a hit with the iPhone 6 family, as well as a higher memory option of 64GB (previous iPhone 5s offered only 16GB and 32GB) will make this an interesting choice for price conscious buyers (again read India, China). Voice over LTE, is an emerging standard that allows you to make voice calls over an LTE connection.

Guess where LTE is being rolled out? You are right, it is India!

Summary

Seeing this article, reading the tea leaves, putting two and two together we think that iPhone 5e is being positioned as a lower cost option in emerging nations as Apple seeks to find a price point that preserves the premiums for its high-end models and at the same time, competes in the take-no-prisoner Android OS based Smart phones that rule the roost in these countries. Will they succeed? Only time will tell.

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1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.

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Sree Iyer

An inventor and out-of-the-box thinker, Sree Iyer has 37 patents in the areas of Hardware, Software, Encryption and Systems.

His first book NDTV Frauds has been published and is an Amazon Bestseller.It ranked second among all eBooks that were self-published in 2017.

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