Report: Apple May Be Launching Cheaper, 8 GB iPhone 5c

By Relaxnews

A website is claiming that a leaked document suggests that Apple is planning to sell an 8 GB version of its colorful handset that would be more affordable than the current entry-level 16 GB model.

The iPhone 5c currently sits below the flagship iPhone 5s and above the entry-level iPhone 4s, and despite the fact that Apple is still selling record numbers of smartphones, the middle-tier model isn’t performing as well as the other handsets.

Now documents reportedly from O2 Germany, published by German-language site Caschys Blog, suggest that a new version of the handset with less internal storage, and therefore a lower asking price, could go on sale in Europe as soon as Tuesday.

Apple famously never discounts or offers deals. If a product fails to gain traction, it is discontinued—like the Apple G4 Cube computer or the Apple Newton—or is quickly refreshed and improved.

If the document is authentic, then it would suggest that Apple has found a way of lowering its prices without breaking its own rules. The new version of the iPhone 5c would go on sale for €60 (about $84) less than the current entry-level iPhone 5c, which has 16 GB of onboard storage.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 4s, which is now offered in many countries as a free handset on a two-year contract, is expected to remain on offer.

Apple doesn’t break down its sales information, so there’s no official way to know exactly how many iPhone 5c handsets have been sold since the product was launched in September. However, a number of research firms and analysts have suggested that the more expensive, flagship iPhone 5s currently outsells it by a ratio of at least two to one.