iPhone Mini it is announced as a product that Apple was supposed to launch two years ago, but it seems that 2013 will be the year in which this product would reach the market. A Morgan Stanley analyst had the opportunity to talk with Apple's CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, about the company and its future products, and from this discussion she it would be understood ca iPhone Mini it would arrive on the market this year. Kate Huberty claims that for Apple innovation remains one of the main priorities, but success iPad Mini, the relatively strong sales of the iPhone 4 and the desire of the Chinese to buy cheap iDevices will determine the launch of this device.
We also see several signs that a lower priced iPhone makes sense: 1) iPad Mini is expanding Apple's customer base with 50% of purchases in China/Brazil representing new customers to the ecosystem. 2) Chinese consumers show a desire to purchase the latest version of iPhone (instead of discounted older generations). 3) iPhone 4 demand surprised to the upside in the December quarter. Even at a low 40% gross margin and 1/3 cannibalization rate, we see an "iPhone Mini" as incremental to revenue and gross profit dollars.
Practically for Apple, this iPhone Mini would generate sales that the company would not normally produce, it could attract tens of millions of customers in the first year after its launch and tens of billions of dollars in revenue. The launch of the iPhone Mini would represent a logical extension of the line of iDevices manufactured by the Apple company and would help it catch up with Samsung, which at the moment seems unstoppable. Of course, the iPhone Mini would affect the "premium" image of those from Apple, but I think that Tim Cook and his managers will find a method to make a cheap iPhone look premium.
