14 DAY TRIAL // In a new research note sent to investors, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterates his estimates on Apple’s 2013 product roadmap, mentioning an iPhone 5S and a low-cost version of the handset slated for July.
KGI expects Apple to roll out two new iPhones this summer, both pre-installed with iOS 7.
One is the iPhone 5S, says analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. It will start shipping alongside a cheaper model in July, he says.
“We expect Apple will introduce its new iPhones and iOS7 in June, and start shipping the new iPhones (5S and low-cost model) in the FDD [frequency-division duplexing] version in July,” writes Kuo, according to MacRumors.
Acknowledging that both dates are not on track with earlier years, KGI attributes this to several factors, two of which are enumerated below.
“(1) an effort to avoid repeating the fatal mistake of last year of the delayed iPhone 5 launch, which gave competitors room to grab market share; and (2) the new iPhones this year are mainly designed on the basis of the current iPhone 5, which suggests development time could be reduced.”
Kuo also believes that the iPhone 5S will sport “a fingerprint chip under the Home button, improving security and usability.”
As for the low-cost iPhone, it will be made with a “hybrid casing of fiberglass and plastic.” The phone will thus be “lighter and slimmer than general plastic casing and easier to make in various colors,” reads the research note.
However, Kuo cautions that, despite using a fiberglass enclosure, the low-cost iPhone will actually be heavier than the iPhone 5 / iPhone 5S.
As far as the inner workings are concerned, KGI expects a “product differentiation between iPhone 5S and iPhone 5” on levels like computing power, the camera, and the fingerprint chip.