Yet more rumors are surfacing that Apple will release a lower priced 8GB iPad 2 alongside the iPad 3 this month... but this one also claims there won't be a 64GB iPad 3. Digitimes, which has not been extremely accurate lately, says this is to "defend" against Windows 8 tablets coming later this year.

As Apple has scheduled an event on March 7, sources from its upstream supply chain pointed out that the company is expected to launch two iPad 3 models - a 16GB version and 32GB version. In addition to iPad 3, Apple is also expected to unveil an 8GB iPad 2, allowing the tablet PC series to cover different segments and to defend against Windows 8-based tablet PCs, the sources noted.

Lack of a 64GB iPad 3 model sounds very, very strange, given both the original iPad and iPad 2 offer 64GB models. So does the idea of competing with Windows 8 tablets, which have a completely different cost structure to Apple's. Namely, Microsoft makes money licensing Windows. ODMs (Original Device Manufacturers) like Samsung, HP, Dell, etc. make money on the hardware. In the past they've shown a willingness to operate on razor thin margins, driving prices to the bottom, hoping to make it up on volume. That didn't work out for netbooks and it's tough to see it working out for tablets. In either case, that's not a game Apple plays.

Last year, Apple chose not to keep the original iPad around at a reduced capacity and lower price point, however they have done this with older generation iPhones and iPod touches in the past, most recently with the low-end 8GB iPhone 4 when the iPhone 4S was released.

If Apple ends up doing the same with the iPad 2 this year, it could be simply to lower the cost of entry to attract more customers to the iPad platform.

Digitimes previously speculated that Apple would try to hit a $299 price point with a budget iPad, but given Apple's traditional focus on profit margins, that will depend a lot on how low they can drive production costs. Further, since the iPad isn't a subsidized product, Apple can't shift the discounts to carriers the way they do with the iPhone.

Given the lack of subsidies, Apple's profit margins, and the rumored 8GB storage capacity, it's hard to see how appealing even a slightly discounted iPad 2 would be. iCloud and iTunes Match would slightly reduce local storage demands, but not significantly.

Would you find an 8GB iPad 2 appealing at $399?

Source: Digitimes

Gizmodo Brazil got their hands on some pictures of the 8GB iPhone 4 at Foxconn's new Brazilian manufacturing plant.

Most of these photos don't look like anything special—just snapshots of a familiar face. But when you get to the last one, a picture of a Foxconn Brazil quality control form, you'll notice something strange: a different model number, N90A. This has already been rumored to represent a cheaper version of the iPhone4.

Apple typically makes a new, lower storage version of the past year's iPhone to keep selling alongside the new one at a US$99 price point. Last year that was the 8GB iPhone 3GS. This year, it'll in all likelihood be the 8GB iPhone 4.

Source: Gizmodo Brazil via Gizmodo

According to a report from Reuters this morning, Apple has instructed its Asian manufacturers to begin production of a lower priced iPhone 4 with just 8GB of on-board storage. The information comes from “People with knowledge of the matter”. The flash drives for the 8GB iPhone 4 will be manufactured by a Korean company according to the same sources but no company name was revealed.

To be clear, this doesn't sound like the iPhone nano/budget iPhone TiPb previously heard Apple was working on, nor is it the greatest of revelations when you consider previous Apple release patterns -- When the iPhone 3GS was launched, the then-current iPhone 3G was offered as a cheaper entry level iPhone with 8GB of storage. Again when the iPhone 4 was launched last year, the iPhone 3GS was offered with 8GB of storage at a much cheaper price.

Having said that, an iPhone 4 with 8GB of storage at a very competitive price would still be a very compelling device for many.

[Reuters]

Could an 8GB iPhone 3GS replace the 8GB iPhone 3G Apple currently offers as it's ahem bargain-basement smartphone? The $99 iPhone 3G was one of the big stories of 2009, set against otherwise anemic competition at that price point. An 8GB 3GS at $99 (or lower?) has been rumored before. Now Gizmodo says it could be immanent:

A user on the German apfeltalk forums ordered an 8GB iPhone 3G, and while the handset was what he was expecting, the packaging suggested it contained an 8GB version of the latest model, the 3GS. As you know, it's only available in 16GB and 32GB options, so either the box info contained a typo, or Apple accidentally got its new packaging mixed up with the old.

Sure, $99, $199, $299 makes little real difference when you factor in the thousands of voice and data dollars spent over a 2 or 3 year contract. Psychologically, however, walking in with almost no money in your pocket and walking out with an iPhone is huge to a mainstream customer base, and Apple could be planning to keep up the low price-point pressure in 2010.

Would you want?

Boy Genius has heard some rumblings that AT&T is ready to launch an 8GB iPhone 3GS in preparation of Verizon releasing the highly anticipated Motorola Droid. While this is not confirmed this would be a good way for Apple to pick up quite a bit more sales just in time for the holiday season, especially in the $99 price range. Black Friday anyone?

Back in August rumors were flying that Rogers was about to release their own iPhone 8GB 3GS but that has yet to take place. This will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

What are you thoughts on the release of an 8GB iPhone 3GS? Fact or fiction?

[Via BGR]

Once again Canada's Rogers looks to be the source of a leak surrounding an upcoming 8GB iPhone 3GS, which -- if true -- would bring Apple's latest hardware down to the budget smartphone price point of $99.

MacRumors caught the story, though their take is that the price point is uncertain, and whether or not Apple will release the low-storage iPhone 3GS option in all geographies (i.e. in the US) is unknown.

True leak or cascading data error? We'll find out soon enough.

Boy Genius is reporting several tips on this, so it looks likely that Rogers in Canada is getting ready to launch an 8GB iPhone 3GS. Why? They proffer:

Maybe the iPhone 3G stock is finally sold out and Apple will quietly (or not quietly) replace the $99 model iPhone with an 8GB 3GS?

This appeal to anyone? How about to anyone who jumped on the $99 16GB iPhone 3G already?

AT&T is currently selling refurbished iPhones in their online store! The 8GB version is going for $249 and the 16GB version is priced at $349. With no iPhones currently in the pipeline over at Apple, this is probably the best bet to get an iPhone online. AT&T has sold iPhones at this price a few time before so I wouldn't look too much into it (read: this is in no way a rumor of Apple & AT&T cleaning out old stock before the imminent release of the 3G iPhone, though by putting this in parenthesis I'm well aware of the possibility).

Either way, $250 for the 8GB is a great deal any way that you spin it. Even if the new iPhone is forthcoming, you might be able to unlock it and pawn it off on the gray market. Or, you can keep (gasp) the soon-to-be old iPhone before everyone realizes AT&T's 3G network is not all the way there yet and that metal is greater than plastic.

As always, these puppies are available while supplies last. So what are you doing here still? Click the Read Link and buy!

UPDATE: Looks like they disappeared/sold out! Sorry if you missed the boat!

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