Piling on the Wall Street Journal‘s cheap iPhone rumour resurrection, Bloomberg has a report today that says that the budget-friendly device Apple is working on will cost in the $US100-$US150 range. It would debut, at the very earliest, at the end of this year.
Apple’s target with a second-tier iPhone would be developing markets, where iPhone costs aren’t kept down through the grace of AT&T and can typically run more than $US700 a unit. Bloomberg’s not clear if the price it quotes includes carrier subsidies. It’s also not clear whether the phone will actually ever see the light of day; the report says it would appear in late 2013 “at the earliest,” and the WSJ was clear that it may not happen at all. [Bloomberg]