Apple Sets Earnings Call on July 23: Will There Be Glimpses of iPhone 5S, iPhone Lite?
Mark July 23 on your calendars as top Apple executives will take the stage anew on that day and chances are there'll be hints on upcoming iOS 7 devices, bannered this year by the iPhone 5S and iPhone Lite.
Expect the Apple biggies on the quarterly conference call with the likes of Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer, company CEO and CFO, respectively, presenting facts and figures on the tech giant's last quarter performance, which ended June 30.
Also, guidelines will be presented and somewhere in between are "forward looking statements for the fourth quarter," Apple Insider said on its report.
The duo discussing Apple prospects for the remaining months of the year is keenly monitored by tech watchers. They not only provide roadmaps for investors but also likely clues of Apple devices that will make their way to the market.
So far, nothing is definite, but analysts are upbeat on the notion that iPhone 5 is surely getting a replacement by September 2013 - not by a single handset but also with a companion smartphone that is reportedly for price-sensitive buyers.
Estimates point to an iPhone 5S release date, plus the more affordable edition that some experts nicknamed as the iPhone Lite. The former is the incremental jump from the iPhone 5, which means the form-factor is pretty much the same but with significant component upgrades inside such as improved Retina display and faster processor.
The iPhone Lite, on the other hand, will reflect Apple's gradual entry to the mass market segment, which is currently dominated by feature phone makers like Nokia and Samsung. With the Lite bearing the Apple logo and sufficient amount of killer features, the low-cost iPhone should spell the end for many of the feature phone players, experts said.
The Lite, however, will not be necessarily cheap in the pricing department. According to Pegatron, one of the reputed iPhone Lite makers, the parts inside the handset are far from being low-end, and the final build's price tag is not too low.
Nonetheless, the product will sell in big numbers, analysts said, and may even pull a surprise by likely surpassing the performance coming from Apple's main event, at least in 2013, the iPhone 5S.
As Mr Cook implied in the previous months, there'll be big surprises from Apple coming this fall, which for the company could translate into another financial windfall.