Last week, a usually reliable French blog found a pair of images said to depict the polycarbonate shell of Apple’s purported lower-cost iPhone. The Cupertino company has long been said to be working on a lower-cost handset to make inroads into emerging markets like China and India. If these shots are anything to go by, the budget iPhone will come in some vivid colors, like yellow, red and green.
The same blog on Wednesday re-posted another photograph that pictures a blue variant of the device, bringing the number of supposed color choices to four. More tidbits right after the break…
The French blog NowhereElse.fr, which re-posted the new image, cautions it could simply depict Chinese shells for an iPhone knockoff, even if the features, holes and the design match up with previous shots and are consistent with speculative information about the rumored budget iPhone model.
The top image depicts a blue variant and the one below from last week pictured yellow, red and green shells.
Both photographs somewhat corroborate a report by another trusted source, the Japanese blog Macotakara, which heard from sources that the budget iPhone will borrow colors from Apple’s iPhone 4 bumpers.
The bumpers were originally available in black, white, pink, orange and blue so only a blue shell from the leaked images matches Apple’s color choices for the bumpers. On the other hand, the fifth-generation iPod touch sports color choices which are very similar to the supposed budget iPhone shells.
Apple has long been thought to be working on a less-pricey iPhone to help improve its standing in emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China. These BRIC nations are expected to overtake the United States as the world’s top four smartphone markets by 2018.
On Monday, Reuters reported that contract manufacturer Foxconn has begun delivering first budget iPhone shipments to Apple, in time for an apparent Fall release.
So, what do you think: are the shells pictured here for some obscure Chinese iPhone/iPod touch knockoff or do they represent the real thing?