iPhone 6c News: 4-Inch Smartphone Releasing Early 2016, Says Top Apple Insider
Earlier this week, a rumor spread that Apple is planning on releasing a new 4-inch iPhone, possibly an "iPhone 6c," in February 2016. The rumor came from Chinese blog TechWeb and cited "Foxconn insiders" as the source.
Now, MacRumors is adding fuel to the speculation, stating that KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a top Apple insider, has issued a research note confirming the rumor. According to Kuo, Apple is set to release a 4-inch iPhone in 2016. He wrote that it will look similar to an upgraded iPhone 5s and that it will have an A9 chip manufactured by both Samsung and TSMC.
The new 4-inch iPhone will reportedly feature 2.5D cover glass, curved edges similar to the iPhone 6s, a metal shell with two to three color variants, and camera specs similar to the iPhone 5s: an 8-megapixel main rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. Kuo also said that the new iPhone will have near field communication (NFC) technology for Apple Pay.
According to Kuo's note, the new 4-inch iPhone could cost between $400 and $500 in the U.S., which means that it would be cheaper than the 16GB iPhone 6s by about $150 to $250. Kuo also forecasted that production for the new iPhone will begin in the first quarter of 2016 and that full-year shipments for the new device will be around 20 million units.
The analyst also stated that the recent decline in iPhone 6s orders validated their prediction half a year ago that the 6s may not outsell the iPhone 6. In the research note, Kuo said that while he does not expect the 4-inch iPhone to catalyze shipments, its release could alleviate the current slowdown for suppliers and reverse the negative impact that the 2015 shipment decline has had on Apple share performance. He also noted that mass production for the iPhone 7 will begin in the second quarter of 2016.
