So… I have been thinking about this a lot lately (as has anyone in  this industry), and basically no one has any clue what Apple is  releasing as far as smartphones go this year. While there have been  credible leaks and reports, Apple has played a masterful chess game  confusing not only its competitors but the tech press as well. One   leak contradicts another report, one mainstream publication  contradicts another mainstream publication, one   analyst note contradicts another’s research note. Let’s break this  down logically, together. Apple has an iPhone 4 that is over a year old  and is still the best-selling smartphone in the world. In fact, it’s  still the best-selling smartphone on practically every carrier in the  world that sells it. Apple could easily update it with the company’s A5  processor and an 8-megapixel camera, but is Apple really going to break  from its traditional summertime release schedule just to dump in a new  CPU and camera? What’s the point? Read on for more.
Is Apple going to sell the iPhone 4 at $99 and the “iPhone 4S” at  $199 alongside it? Nearly identical phones in terms of physical  appearance? Someone walking into a store is going to have to choose  between the iPhone with the faster processor and better camera and one  with a slower processor and a still-great camera? Hardly. If there even  is an actual iPhone 4S — one that’s sole purpose hasn’t been just for  high-profile iOS developers to use a test sled for Apple’s new hardware  that’s coming in the iPhone 5 — my bet is that it will replace the  iPhone 4, but the iPhone 4S will still be the entry-level iPhone.
Why? Because Apple can afford to take a, what, 15%-ish margin hit to  deliver a better iPhone for a better price of $99 on contract. The  company can introduce it only with 8GB of storage, too, making up some  of the component costs of the A5 CPU and the 8-megapixel sensor. Why  would Apple do such a thing? It won’t only damage the competition, it  will crush, destroy, and eliminate them. And if the iPhone 4S is in fact  just a developer tool, then the iPhone 4 will move to this entry-level  space to make room for the star of the show.
Then there’s the iPhone 5 that everyone is waiting (and hoping) for  at $199/$299, which will be another leap above anything the competition  can offer. IPhone 4 or iPhone 4S — it doesn’t matter. A redesigned  iPhone 5 is coming as well. It will be faster, it will be probably the  thinnest smartphone in the world, and it will possibly introduce  gestures in addition to voice control capabilities. That’s what my  scenario looks like, and hey… even   Al Gore says the multiple iPhones are launching next month.
 
