Apple will only launch a low-end iPhone if it’s a “category killer”, says analyst

According to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky, Apple would only launch a low-end iPhone handset if the device would provide an “innovative, category killer experience”, reports AppleInsider.

Abramsky met with Apple COO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer on Wednesday, revealing a set of “key takeaways” from his meeting with the two Apple executives as he was unable to quote the duo directly. He wrote that “Apple’s primary criterion for launching a lower-end iPhone is an innovative, category-killer experience”.

The statement may fall in line with Apple’s ethos for all of its products, but is more poignant given reports that Apple would launch a “simplified” iPhone 4 device alongside a new iPhone 5 smartphone later in the year. How Apple intends to price its models remains unknown, with analysts speculating that the Cupertino-based company could launch a contract free iPhone.

Also discussed was Apple’s “massive opportunity” in China, a market that the iPhone-maker believes is “significantly untapped” depsite revenues of $9 billion from sales in the country.

Apple’s current patent fights were also addressed, with it thought that the company may settle with Android handset vendors rather than banning them, allowing the company to hold favourable agreements in countries around the world that have more relaxed intellectual property rules.