With the economy growing fast, the idea of introducing a lower cost but powerful India-made iPhones equipped with a powerful processor and support for AI could resonate quite strongly in India, where Apple’s efforts to build market are already having a positive impact. A range of cool colors and a ‘Made in India’ label on the box could help Apple convince some of those who don’t yet have smartphones to ready their Rupees for an AAPL stock-saving smartphone sale. And even if that doesn’t happen, the device itself could prove critical to the company’s 2025 efforts in that market.
What about the modem?
The 5G modem is, of course, the big Apple story here. Bloomberg has claimed Apple is working on three models at the moment: the first to be introduced in the iPhone SE that lacks mmWave support, a second that does enjoy such support, and a third “Pro” modem that answers or exceeds what the best available 5G chips can do.
The thing is, 5G isn’t the only story in town. Apple continues to make big investments in satellite communications, as recently confirmed in a series of investor reports from its preferred network supplier, GlobalStar. The company already offers a range of satellite-based services in several nations through that partnership, and it’s reasonable to expect whatever 5G chips Apple comes up with to continue and enhance support for these life-saving services.
