低价iPhone 4将于数周内问市

Apple has begun manufacturing a lower-priced version of its phenomenally popular iPhone 4 with an 8GB flash drive。

The flash drive for the 8GB iPhone 4 is being made by an unknown Korean company. But Apple currently sources its flash drives from Japan's Toshiba and South Korea's Samsung Electronics. Till now, Apple and Samsung declined to comment。

The existing iPhone 4 was first launched in June 2010 with 16GB and 32GB versions, with a white version added to the line-up in April. The 8GB version is expected to launch within weeks。

苹果即将推出8GB版iPhone

Some analysts said the cheaper 8GB iPhone 4 could help Apple boost sales in emerging markets。

Bonnie Chang, an analyst with Yuanta Securities, said: “Apple may want to push into the emerging market segment where customers want to switch to low to mid-end smart phones from high-end feature phones。”

“So Apple will need a completely new phone with low specifications for the emerging markets. ”

In addition to the launch of the smaller iPhone 4, Apple is thought to be launching the iPhone 5 next month。

The new iPhone, which some call the iPhone 4S because of its largely identical appearance to the existing iPhone 4, will have a bigger touch screen, better antenna and an 8-megapixel camera。据英国《每日邮报》8月24日报道，苹果已经开始生产内存为8GB、价格较低的热销iPhone4手机。

8GB版iPhone4所采用的闪存现由韩国一家公司制造，但苹果目前也在日本东芝和韩国三星电子中寻求闪存的外包合作。截至目前，苹果与三星电子均拒绝对此事做出评论。

现在市面上的iPhone 4是苹果于2010年6月开始出售的，分16GB和32GB两款。今年4月，苹果又推出一款白色的iPhone4。8GB版iPhone4将在几周内面市。

一些分析师认为，价格便宜的8GB版iPhone 4手机将有助于提升苹果在新兴市场的销量。

元大证券分析师邦尼•张说：“苹果可能想打进新兴的市场领域，该领域中的用户需求正从高端定制手机转向中端智能机。”

所以，苹果也需要为新兴市场准备一部全新的低配手机。

除发行小内存iPhone 4手机之外，苹果还计划在下月(9月)发布iPhone5。

一些人也称该新款iPhone手机为iPhone 4S，因为该款手机与现在市面上iPhone 4的外观极为相似，只是采用了更大的触屏，更好的天线和一个800万像素的摄像头。