Apple rejects 'cheap' iPhone

Security guards and staff stand at the entrance of an Apple store during the release of iPhone 5 in Beijing

Phil Schiller’s comments to the Shanghai Night Information follow After reports from The Surface Street Journal and also Bloomberg - both normal conduits for genuine leaks regarding forthcoming Apple paint products - which stated a cheaper iPhone was within the functions.

“Every product that Apple creates, we consider using only the best technology available,” he said.

“This includes the production pipeline, the Retina display, the unibody design, to provide the best product to the market.”

Analysts have said Apple should provide a smartphone at just a lower price point to increase its share of the booming Chinese market, which has been plummeting under pressure from a slew of inexpensive, low-margin Android devices from residential providers. IDC said in December the American firm had slipped to sixth biggest smartphone maker in China, with lower than 10 every cent of the market.

Mr Schiller, that is Apple’s 2nd strongest executive, soon after chief executive Tim Prepare, acknowledged the styles in China.

“At first, non-smartphones were popular in the Chinese market, now cheap smartphones are more popular and non-smartphones are out,” he said.

"China is currently our second largest market. I believe it will become our first. I believe strongly that it will," he said.