Could there be a cheaper $300 iPhone 5 for India and China in the works?

A cheaper version of the iPhone 5 may be launched soon in India and China. According to Japanese website Macotakara, the device would cost $300 (approximately Rs 18,000) and will enter the mid-end segment in the two countries. This is less than half the price of the iPhone 5, which currently demands roughly Rs 45,000 for the 16GB model.

There have been rumours about a cheaper iPhone 5 in the past, but this is the first one that has included the price of the cheaper iPhone 5.

Reportedly, sales of the iPhone 5 in Mainland China are tapering due to the pricing, and a budget version may just help increase sales.

Apple has also been trying to sustain its hold in the Indian mobile market. It has indeed been advertising the iPhone 5 India quite heavily, which makes us wonder if this could be due to falling sales, as we haven’t seen the Cupertino-based company market any of its other products at such a large scale.

Earlier reports suggesting a cheaper iPhone model claim Apple plans to cut the cost of the iPhone with a “different and less expensive body”. It is rumoured the company is toying with the idea of building the device with polycarbonate instead of aluminum, which will help it reduce the price significantly. Furthermore, other parts on the cheaper iPhone could be recycled from previous iPhone models.

Apart from a cheaper iPhone, rumours about a new iteration of the iPad and the iPhone 5S are also up and about. Reports suggest that the iPad 5 and iPad mini are expected to be launched in March or April. The new iPad 5 is said to be much slimmer than the current version and will run on an A6X processor. And the second generation of the iPad mini is expected to have the same size and form, but come with better hardware. There is currently no concrete news about a possible Retina display for the iPad mini, but rumours indicate it will be seeing this upgrade as well.

An analyst at investment firm Jeffries has speculated that the iPhone 5S is in preps. According to him, the iPhone 5S will be launched in six to eight different colour options as the company’s competitors like Samsung and Nokia have been releasing smartphones in varied colour options. He has even gone ahead and speculated that the iPhone 5S will be made available in June this year.