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Why A Cheap iPhone Makes Absolutely No Sense

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It's all starting to come together now. Apple has revealed that it is hosting an event on September 10, and the world waits anxiously for the unveiling of wondrous new "magical" technology to delight the senses and fundamentally change our lives. One of the prevailing predictions is that Apple will reveal a low-cost iPhone aimed at bargain-hunting customers, but don't hold your breath.

According to the rumor mill, one of the things we can expect to see from Apple is a cheap, plastic iPhone model. The logic suggests that Android is stealing Apple's lunch money, and that Apple must introduce a more economical smartphone in order to compete.

It only makes sense. It's just like when Apple was going head-to-head with Microsoft in the PC market, and it needed to compete with a thousand cheap, plastic, generic, PC knock-offs, so it started producing a crappy plastic version of the Mac...oh wait. Yeah, that didn't happen because that's not Apple's style.

Actually, there were Mac clones available for a few years. Apple officially licensed the Mac OS a' la Microsoft Windows and allowed third-party manufacturers to sell "Mac" PCs. It's not a quirk that this period coincides with Apple's darkest years, or that one of the first things Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple was nix the program.

Apple does what Apple does--and it generally does it very well. Apple has never chased market share, and yet it rakes in truckloads of money and on any given day is worth more than global oil conglomerates like Exxon. Android as a platform is beating iOS, but comparing individual smartphone models, the iPhone is easily the winner. Android may be crushing Apple in units shipped or market share, but Apple continues to make more than half of the profit for the entire smartphone market. What incentive does Apple have, exactly, for sacrificing its core principles and producing crap to pander to a bargain basement market?

As it stands, Apple already offers an iPhone model for free. It doesn't get any cheaper than free. That free iPhone is the iPhone 4. It's not an iPhone 5, but it is a solid, quality device constructed of real metal, and actual glass. Those who want something better than an iPhone 4 and cheaper than an iPhone 5 can get the iPhone 4S for only $100. Even though it's two models behind the current iPhone 5, the iPhone 4 is still a better smartphone in terms of its construction and capabilities than most other smartphones available. Nobody in their right mind would choose a crappy plastic iPhone in rainbow colors over an iPhone 4.

The one angle I can see where a cheaper iPhone makes sense is on the growing contract-free, pay as you go market--the Crickets, and Boosts, and AIOs of the world. The iPhone 4 is available for free, but only as a function of signing a two-year service contract. If someone wants an iPhone with a contract-free wireless provider like Cricket, the iPhone 5 is $500. If Apple were to offer an iPhone model that could be purchased outright for $100 or less, it would most likely spark increased sales in this arena.

Even so, it's just not Apple's modus operandi. It's not the way Apple does business. If Apple does pander to the cheap market by developing an inferior device, it will be jumping the proverbial shark, and surrendering the very essence that makes it Apple. Steve Jobs won't just roll over in his grave, he'll come back from the dead to put an end to that insanity and restore the reputation of the Apple brand.