IPhone to Get Cheaper, Techier This Summer
By Chris Weiss
Much the way last year’s introduction of the iPhone 3GS resulted in a price drop down to $99 for the iPhone 3G, this year’s iPhone update is expected to see an iPhone price drop. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty believes that the iPhone equipment price ($99 to $299) and AT&T talk/data plan pricing (starting at $70) are the biggest factors keeping more people from jumping into the iPhone ownership club.
Huberty writes: “We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology,” she wrote in a note to investors Friday.
As for the latter, two Apple patents published recently give possible explanations. One patent shows an iPhone camera with input technology, which would allow users to use the camera for gesture input (swiping up and down, left and right) when on the phone. The second patent is for “Shape Detecting Input Device”, which would allow users to perform actions (e.g. login) based upon a recognized shape embedded on a card or ring.
Unfortunately, there’s no indication of how low the iPhone’s price might go, so we’ll have to wait until June (or a leak) to find out if there’ll be a sub-$99 iPhone. [via InformationWeek, Ars Technica and Patently Apple]
