It seems not all smartphone users have caught up with the trend of those oversized phablets, no wonder Apple is reportedly working on a 4-inch iPhone to be released next year. The information comes via reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, who says that the device ‘resembles an upgraded iPhone 5S’, though will not be equipped with the recently introduced Force Touch ID technology in order to differentiate the device from the company’s flagship lineup.
Kuo further added that the demand for smaller Apple handsets is still quite prevalent in the market. He predicts that Apple will mass produce the 4-inch iPhone and will ship around 20-30 million units by the end next year. He also expects the device to feature a metal casing, and will likely get an A9 SoC to perform seamlessly with the current iOS 9 or the upcoming iOS 10.
Apart from the 4-inch version, Kuo also shared his predictions for the next iPhone upgrade. He said that Apple will be sticking with the same trend of unveiling its next flagship smartphone in the third quarter, and anticipates both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models to get overhauled with Apple’s latest A10 chipset. Though Kuo believes that the two variants will differ in terms of RAM, with the 4.7-inch iPhone expected to get 2GB of RAM, while the 5.5-inch Plus variant expected to get 3GB of RAM.
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In other related news, the company recently announced its Q4 earnings, and to no surprise, it has yet again broken previous records, selling 48 million iPhones while revenue earned was $51.5 billion with a net profit of $11.1 billion, which is a 22 percent increase compared to the same period last year. In addition, Apple CEO also said during the company’s Q4 Earnings Conference Call that nearly 30 percent of iPhone buyers had switched from Android. Apparently, the highest ratio of Android switchers the iPhone maker has recorded in a span of three months.
