Apple’s new iPhone will be available to more subscribers than ever in the USA after Sprint became the third company to confirm they’d be selling it. Dubbed the “iPhone 5”, the new device has already been delayed a month to mid-October and it will now be available to the approximate 52 million subscribers that Sprint possesses. The US’s two-largest carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, are also planning to offer the device. It means that around 257 million people who are already signed up to the three networks will have access to the new device and shows the country’s increasing preference for smart phone devices. Early indications show that the new device will be similar to the iPhone 4 but thinner, lighter and have an improved digital camera and operating system.
The company is also expected to announce the release of a cheaper iPhone for emerging markets in the near future. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Asian suppliers have already begun producing the new device that will have a smaller 8GB flash drive. The aim of the device will be to get into those hard to reach markets where an iPhone at the normal price simply won’t sell.
Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund, which owns Apple shares, said, “A lower-priced version of iPhone 4 seems to be a necessary evil at this point in the iPhone adoption cycle, especially in emerging markets where the average income of individuals is much lower.”
Talks have already been held with a number of the biggest carriers in China ahead of the product’s release at the same time as the iPhone 5. As far as the mobile gaming industry is concerned, it’s big news as it gives more opportunities in emerging markets.
