Are you ready to shell out an additional $100 to get your hands on the new iPhone? Because according to insiders, the price of the upcoming smartphone might just increase.
Business Insider quotes Jeffries analyst Peter Misek saying, "Our checks indicate Apple has started negotiating with carriers on a $100 iPhone 6 price increase. The initial response has been no, but there seems to be an admission that there is no other game-changing device this year."
As it stands, a basic iPhone 5s loaded with 16 GB of memory and locked with a two-year contract, is tagged at $199 at Verizon and AT&T, notes Yahoo. Misek explains that direct competitor Samsung and its upcoming Galaxy S5 is not generating the expected pull-factor and the anticipated new iPhone has been generating a lot of buzz. This market excitement could be the leverage that Apple needs to get carriers to agree to the price hike.
Apple is seemingly in a league of its own and appears to dominate the high-end device range with no one able to dethrone the line anytime soon. "A $100 price hike would likely do little to stop most iPhone shoppers from selecting a different phone. They want their iPhones, and they want nothing else, an extra Benjamin be darned," Yahoo says.
BGR has offered an alternative explanation for the possible increase. The market has been bombarded with rumors of two iPhone releases, one at 4.7-inches and another at 5.5-inches. It may be that the $100 increase is for Apple's rumored first-ever "phablet," which, with a $100 increase is still in the same price range as other manufactures, notes the outlet.
Allegedly, features of the next iPhone may include slim to non-existent bezels, sapphire-coated display and enhanced processors and cameras. Interested to see what the new device may look like? Click here to see iPhone 6 mock up photos from Ciccarese Design.