Apparently, Apple has big hopes from the two year old iPhone 3GS in the following months. According to DigiTimes, quoting as always anonymous “industry sources”, the Asian supply chain is supposed to provide in this quarter two million units of iPhone 3GS and another 1.4-1.6 million units in the first quarter of next year.The Taiwanese technology website hints that this is a direct consequence of Apple’s strategy of aggressively entering the entry-level smartphone market. Apple might rely on an older model iPhone to win over non believers as iPhone 3GS was the first iPhone on the US market to be offered for free with the carrier contract. The good news came in October, with the release of the top of the line iPhone 4S. However, a month later AT&T discreetly moved the iPhone 3GS’ price to $0.99 probably not willing to let the customers think that the older model iPhone isn’t worth anything.
Apple’s officials recently declared that iPhone 3GS has “a good dynamic for the iPhone family”. Far from affecting the record sales of the new iPhone 4S, iPhone 3GS “introducing Apple’s products to a wider audience of customers.” In the third quarter of 2011, two year iPhone still managed to remain the second best selling smartphone in the US, beaten only by its sibling iPhone 4. For this quarter iPhone 3GS is still expected to perform very well on the market and to contribute to Apple’s goal to have the best iPhone season ever. This objective follows very disappointing sales reports from the September quarter, when customers were waiting for the next generation iPhone and a pent up demand affected Apple’s plans.
