Apple iPhone 5 to Be Discontinued and Replaced by iPhone 5C [KGI Securities]

More tidbits are coming out of KGI’s Monday note sent out to investors, particularly one interesting detail about the potential discontinuation of the iPhone 5.

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (quoted by MacRumors), Foxconn plans to start manufacturing a TDD-LTE iPhone 5C for China Mobile in August. In other words, the discussions between Tim Cook and Xi Guohua are finally going to materialize in a handset for China Mobile’s 700+ million subscribers. Another (more interesting) disclosure in Kuo’s research note is that Apple reportedly plans to discontinue the iPhone 5 at the end of the third quarter, but will continue to manufacture and sell iPhone 4S handsets. The reason? The upcoming iPhone 5C which, according to Kuo (and most rumors) is basically a repackaged version of the iPhone 5. Apple will not only save on production costs, but it will also be able to pull a troublesome handset off the market.

There doesn’t seem to be much chatter about the issues incurred by the iPhone 5 in its lifetime, including camera problems, faulty buttons, easy scuffability, and the list continues. Shipments of the iPhone 4S will continue until the end of 2013, according to Kuo, and the iPhone 5S is expected to become the most popular model, the analyst adds. While the iPhone 5C will exceed the iPhone 5S in shipments in the September quarter, the 5S will eventually catch up and even sell more units than the 5C, Kuo estimates.

Apple’s rumored September 10 event is likely to witness the unveiling of both handsets, as well as the launch of iOS 7 (the phones’ underlying software) and OS X Mavericks, a new version of the company’s Mac operating system. A couple of new iPads are also expected to make their debut at the event, but some analysts are reserved regarding Apple’s willingness to clog up the event with so many announcements.

iPhone 5C case
Image credits to BGR

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