26.09.2013 16:20 Uhr, Quelle: Macworld UK

How Apple could have built a cheaper iPhone 5C

Apple could have built a much less expensive iPhone, a move most analysts expected before Sept. 10, but that would have risked destroying intangible advantages the company has accumulated over decades, an expert in component costs said Wednesday."You can make a smartphone for under $150 or even under $100," said Andrew Rassweiler, a senior director of IHS iSuppli's cost benchmarking team, in an interview Wednesday. "Apple could have done that if it de-speced [the iPhone 5C] enough. But it would have tarnished the brand."Two weeks ago, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5C, an old smartphone -- essentially 2012's iPhone 5 -- in a new plastic coat. More importantly to the Wall Street and industry analysts who had pondered the long-rumored handset, Apple priced the entry-level 16GB iPhone 5C at $549 sans a mobile carrier subsidy, just $100 less than the company's flagship iPhone 5S.Before the Sept. 10 unveiling, experts of all stripes bet on an unsubsidized price of between $300 and $450 for the i

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