Kuo On Apple's New iPhone Lineup
Kuo also believes the iPhone 5C will completely replace the iPhone 5, because of the feature set overlap, and be priced in the $399-$499 range. That’s something we discussed in our roundtable conversation last week. Strangely, Kuo believes the iPhone 4S will soldier on, perhaps as something for emerging markets at low price-points
I’m not surprised the iPhone 5 is getting axed; it’s too similar to the 5C to warrant staying around as a separate product. Kuo literally refers to the 5C as the “plastic iPhone 5” in his reports. The 4S is the outsider in this party. It is the legacy product in every way, featuring a two-year old processor, an obsolete dock connector and a 3:2 aspect ratio screen.
Even if the 5C wasn’t imminent, prolonging the 4S’s life would be made awkward because of Apple’s transition to the Lightning connector. With the 5C in the mix, keeping the 4S in the lineup feels like an absurd strategic decision.