Apple Making Moves to Make Its Products More Affordable

CEO Tim Cook says firm is focusing on "more affordable" products.

Following months of speculation, Apple CEO Tim Cook has all but confirmed that the firm will launch a low-cost iPhone.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference, Cook didn't confirm such a device's existence but didn't deny that a cheaper iPhone is in the pipeline. "We are making moves to make things more affordable," he responded when asked about a low-cost variant of Apple's flagship device.

He added that "our north star is great products ... We wouldn't do anything we considered a cheap product. That said we have done things to appeal to people more price sensitive." He referred to an example in the lower pricing for the iPhone 4 and 4S.

"When we came out with iPod it was $399, today you can buy an iPod Shuffle for $49. Instead of saying how can we cheapen this iPod to get it lower, we said how can we do a great product, and we were able to do that. The same thing, but in a different concept, in some ways."

He also shared similar remarks regarding the Mac division. "We concluded we couldn't do a great product, but what did we do - we invented iPad. Now all of a sudden we have an incredible experience and it starts at $329. Sometimes you can take the issue and you can solve it in different ways."

Although marketing VP Phil Schiller stated that Apple will never offer a cheap smartphone, a plastic iPhone without a home button was recently patented. The device, which is expected to generate upwards of $6.5 billion for Apple, will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

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