Low-Cost iPhone Won’t Be Cheap, Says Pegatron CEO

The rumoured low-cost iPhone won’t be that cheap after all, Pegratron CEO T.H. Tung said during a general shareholder meeting (via Macotakara), reports the China Times. His words apparently confirm earlier analyst estimates that the budget iPhone will target the middle-end market rather than the low-end.

The company recently made headlines when it was rumoured to have won a contract from Apple to assemble the long-rumoured budget iPhone. Tung, however, emphasized that what is often described as “cheap” still can be a high price.

Also, he pointed to Apple’s currently available products and said that cheap isn’t a word that could be used to describe Apple or its less expensive iPhone.

His words apparently confirm that his company is indeed handling at least a portion of the anticipated iPhone. Pegatron was adding another 40,000 workers to its existing workforce about a month ago. This suggests the company won the assembly contract for the low-cost iPhone.

According to the China Times’ sources, the budget iPhone is already in production and an estimated 13-15 million handsets will ship in the third quarter of 2013.