Is There Any Reason Why Should Apple Discontinue the iPhone 5?

Apple will allegedly discontinue production of the iPhone 5 and emphasize the iPhone 5S and the lower-cost iPhone when they will be unveiled this fall, the Korean site ETNews reports (via MacRumors).

The voices that whispered to the Korean site claim the move could come because the new in-cell technology used by the iPhone 5 is not suitable for low-volume production. What is interesting though is that Apple’s next generation iPhone will likely feature the same technology and the same design as the iPhone 5, at least from what we have learned from previous leaks. So from this perspective the reasoning doesn’t quite sound plausible, despite some inner design changes the highly anticipated handset will reportedly feature according to the PCB leak.

In case the lower-cost iPhone launches this fall, Apple could however discontinue the iPhone 4 and 4S, for two reasons: first, they still feature the 30-pin dock connectors, and secondly, they don’t represent the cheaper way to do the iOS ecosystem and the Apple experience, since the plastic iPhone will be there to replace them with a 4-inch display.

In addition, a recently published CIRP study has pointed to a 4% increase in sales of the iPhone 4, while sales of the iPhone 4S dropped to 30% of all iPhone sales. By contrast the iPhone 5 still represents more than 52% of all smartphones Apple has sold.