The new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c have proved to be a huge success for Apple with more 9 million devices sold during the launch weekend. This is the highest sales for the opening weekend the company has ever recorded. Apple launched new two new iPhones this year with iPhone 5s boasting faster processor, new Touch ID and camera improvements while on the other hand iPhone 5c had the same internals as iPhone 5 but with an all-new look.

According to a new report published by Canaccord, iPhone 5s sales figures topped at all the major U.S. carriers. Samsung’s Galaxy S4 had taken the top spot on Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile for a while however, in September Apple took over as the top smartphone company in terms of sales.

When Apple unveiled the sales figures it did not breakdown the figures for different models. However, this new report sheds some light on the performance of iPhone 5c. The new $100 cheaper iPhone with plastic body performed well on AT&T and Sprint at second position and came third on Verizon and T-Mobile.

Some analysts believe that out of the 9 million iPhone sales in the launch countries iPhone 5s figures could be around 7 million and the remaining could be of the iPhone 5c. With such impressive figures Apple’s strategy to grab more market share could certainly be seen as huge win.

In a market where cheap Android phones outsell the iPhone, Apple has become aggressive by selling two new iPhones this year. Instead of selling iPhone 5 for $100 cheaper the company created an all-new design which would appeal to the young and ‘colorful’. Those who were hoping to buy iPhone 5 at a cheaper price would now have to shell out more money to buy the flagship iPhone.

According to a new report, Apple is expected to announce iPhone 5S release date on September 10th during a special keynote event.

AllThingsD published a report about Apple holding a “Big iPhone” media event according to sources familiar with the matter. The next-gen iPhone is rumored to feature internal hardware change and would most likely retain the same design as iPhone 5.

iPhone 5S is expected to feature a finger-print sensor beneath the home button to allow easy phone unlocking experience and could possibly be used to authenticate password log-ins. Among other changes the new hardware could get a higher resolution camera with dual-flash and more RAM.

There hasn’t been much speculation about the next gen chip for the iPhone so it isn’t clear if Apple will use a new chip for the seventh-gen iPhone. Every new release the company loves to brag about speed and battery improvements so its possible that the company has quietly made some enhancements to the next-gen SoC.

Probably the bigger news for some of the customers is a cheaper iPhone widely referred to as “iPhone 5C” that could also be unveiled during the media event. According to analysts the need to compete in the mid-priced smartphone market is an important factor to grow for the Cupertino, Calif. based company. Apple’s major competitor Samsung offers smartphones is various price and size categories and continues to lead in the smartphone market share worldwide.

Apple revolutionised the smartphone category in 2007 when the first iPhone was released and since then its competitors have caught up by offering a lot of choice to customers. It would be interesting to see if Apple decides to sell a low-cost iPhone to capture market share.

{Image credit: MacRumors}

According to a new report Apple is expected to launch lower priced iPad mini this year that could hit the market at $199 – $249 price points. With Android gaining market share in the smartphone and tablet market many analysts believe that the Cupertino, Calif., based company should address the low priced market segment.

We’ve reported on rumors about Apple working on a cheaper iPhone and now as iPad mini refresh is expected soon reports about cheaper iPad mini are beginning to flourish. The second gen iPad mini is expected to carry the same design but feature high resolution retina display and upgraded cameras. The processors and RAM would also see an update to support the high processing power required by the retina display.

In a research note, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo mentions:

Prior to iPad mini 2 launch, Apple might roll out a more affordable iPad mini to compete with Android products. To cut costs, Apple might push for lower component prices, use a more advanced process to produce the A5 processor, simplify metal casing production, remove the rear camera, cut storage to 8GB and find more component suppliers to lower costs. We think this cheaper iPad mini retail for US$199~249.

Kuo believes that at a lower price point Apple will be able to cater to the low end of the tablet market which is currently dominated by Android tablets. Apple has publicly denied all reports of a low-cost product and have continued to stress on quality of the products. However, it will be interesting to see if the company introduces a low cost tablet in the market to remain competitive and stop Android from dominating any particular market segment.

{via MacRumors}

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, if Apple were to introduce a $300 contract-free iPhone, they could capture up to 11% of the low-end device market. Munster believes that this is possible for Apple to accomplish and also notes that the lower cost iPhone may be introduced this year, in September.

There are reports and rumors that support the possibility of a lower end iPhone for emerging markets, with Apple currently holding up to 42 percent of the high end smartphone market. Currently, Apple’s iPhone has a gross margin of 55%, which can be reduced to 30% if Apple were to introduce a lower cost iPhone. This means that the price would be cut in half, which would likely draw the attention of more potential customers.

It is possible that a lower cost iPhone would cannibalize sales of the current iPhone, meaning that the gross margin would drop by about 2%. Piper Jaffray has been most accurate in estimating Apple’s price target, lowering it from $767 to $688. Munster also noted that Apple will perform below the Wall Street estimate of $39.6 billion with about $35 billion. Apple is scheduled to report Q2 2013 earnings on April 23rd.

{Via AppleInsider}