iPhone 5 Replaced by Cheaper iPhone 5C and High-End iPhone 5S
Today Apple announced the iPhone 5 will be replaced by two different phones, the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S.
The 5C will come in at least five different colors of blue, white, green, yellow, and red. The phones will be a bit cheaper because they are made with polycarbonate plastic.
Apple executive Phil Schiller said the new phone will retail for just $99.
"The iPhone 5C is beautifully, unapologetically plastic," Schiller said. "Multiple parts have been reduced to a single polycarbonate component whose surface is continuous."
The iPhone 5S will also be making its debut at the conference, and will be the next higher-end model version of the standard iPhone 5.
Some are questioning why the 5C will be coming out with the 5S, as the 5C will most certainly steal sales because of its cost efficiency. However, it being $99 will make the Apple phone affordable to a new market of people. This will work well for the company as their sales have been cannibalized by cheaper Android-based products for some time.
"Apple needs to demonstrate in the coming months that it has other product lines which can start to make up for slowing growth and falling margins in (the) iPhone and iPad," said chief telecoms analyst for Ovum Research Jan Dawson.
Apple also unveiled the iOS 7 operating system, where the new software will showcase an updated interface and more operations for Siri among other things.
The operating system will be available on Sept. 18 for free.