Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has stated that the company plans to introduce a more affordable version of the 13-inch MacBook Air this year.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has stated that the company plans to introduce a more affordable version of the 13-inch MacBook Air this year.
According to a report by 9to5mac, Kuo says that he expects Apple to release a new MacBook Air ‘with a lower price tag’ during the second quarter of 2018. The analyst reportedly expects that an affordable MacBook Air will help push MacBook shipments up by 10-15 percent this year.
According to reports, Apple is also preparing to release three new smartphones later this year, including the largest iPhone ever, a device that may have a bigger display than arch-rival Samsung's flagship phone.
The trio also includes an upgraded handset the same size as the current iPhone X and a less expensive model with some of the X's key features. The new phones could revive the screen size wars of years past at a time when smartphone makers are straining to come up with new features to lure buyers in a saturated market. Global smartphone sales were down 0.1 percent last year, according to research firm IDC, with Apple and Samsung expanding shipments only 1.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
The iPhone maker is already running production tests with suppliers and is expected to announce the new phones this fall. However, the plans could still change. With global smartphone sales roughly flat, vendors are focusing on features designed to encourage consumers to ditch their old phones earlier than they would have previously.
Apple has also embraced the used iPhone market as a way to expand its share of smartphone users. When customers sell their old iPhone for a new one, the old iPhone "winds up with another customer somewhere else that is perfectly fine with having a previously owned iPhone," CEO Tim Cook told investors on an earnings call earlier this month.
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