Apple always loves to keeps its customers on their toes. Just when they think they’ve gathered all the possible updates on the iGadgets, the iCompany surprises them with some more.
According to latest reports, Apple will start selling contract-free, $350 iPhone 3GS for the prepaid customer segment. Typically, an out-of-contract iPhone model fetches anywhere between $600-700. So it’s nice to see a less expensive option possibly on the horizon.
An Apple representative wasn't immediately available to comment on the validity of the report.
Apple has been looking at ways to expand its potential base of customers and cement its leadership role in the smartphone world. The company has already expanded its distribution with the addition of Verizon Wireless as a carrier partner. But Apple wants to go after the burgeoning prepaid market, one of the few areas of customer growth still left in the wireless industry.
The iPhone has traditionally been considered a high-end or aspirational product. But that changed earlier this year when AT&T began selling the iPhone 3GS for $99 with a two-year contract. A contract-free version of the phone for $350 would appeal to consumers that are increasingly reluctant to commit to pricey and long-term agreements.
In addition to the lower-end iPhone 3GS and the new iPhone, Boy Genius Report said Apple will continue to sell the iPhone 4, allowing it to have a product in each customer segment.
The report also said the next iPhone, which may or may not feature a radical design, will be coming out or announced "by the end of summer, late August-ish."
