Apple marketing senior VP Phil Schiller denies reports of the firm’s plans to release a low-end iPhone in a bid to boost its demand in developing markets.
Chinese-language newspaper Shanghai Evening News quoted Schiller as saying ‘despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products.’
Schiller added: "Every product that Apple creates, we consider using only the best technology available."
Further, the executive indicated that though Apple commanded about 20% of the smartphone market, it had 75% of the profit.
"Originally, many in the Chinese market used feature phones (regular wireless phones). But now a few companies are starting to use cheap smartphones to take the place of feature phones," Schiller said. "But this is not a direction that we want to be heading in with our products."
Recently, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported Apple’s supposed plan to release cheap iPhones and said that the devices may use a different shell made of polycarbonate plastic, unlike the iPhone 5 which currently has an aluminum casing.