As Part Of Cost-Down Strategy, Rumored Lower-End iPhone To Have Plastic Chassis
January 15, 2013
Last week, DigiTimes brought back rumors from as far as a couple of years ago with a report that Apple is developing a less expensive iPhone. Now, it's following up on that report with a different set of rumors regarding the fabled iPhone's apparently cheaper outer structure.
The Taiwanese news site, which is known for its hit-and-miss track record, states in its new report:
Apple's rumored entry-level iPhone reportedly may adopt plastic for its chassis instead of reinforced glass or unibody metal as in the company's standard iPhone models, to save cost, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.But rumors of an alternate scenario are also circulating. In this scenario, the low-cost iPhone is said to have a chassis that combines plastic and metal. Furthermore, the chassis will be in some way transparent, "with the internal metal parts being able to be seen from outside through special design." DigiTimes also notes that the chassis components for the low-cost iPhone are already undergoing validation, with the actual device likely to be released in the second half of this year. DigiTimes' report last week of a prospective lower-end iPhone was promptly corroborated by reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. However, these reports were followed by a Reuters article claiming that Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller dismissed the possibility of an entry-level iPhone. But the article was pulled shortly after its original source, which was a report in the Shanghai Evening News, was revised with "substantial changes." Source: DigiTimes
