In an interview with Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, Apple executives COO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and VP Eddy Cue talked about iPhone, iPad and market expansion. Cook was very happy with the iPhone growth and the halo effect it brings for other Apple products calling iPhone “the mother of all halos”. The most interesting part of the interview was Cook confirming Apple’s plans for a lower priced iPhone. The analyst wrote:

While Tim stopped short of explicitly stating that Apple would pursue a lower price iPhone, he did state that Apple was working hard to “figure out” the prepaid market and that Apple didn’t want its products to be “just for the rich,” but “for everyone”; he also stated that Apple “understood price is big factor in the prepaid market” and that the company was “not ceding any market.” Cook noted that Apple executives – including himself – had spent “huge energy” in China, noting that it is “a classic prepaid market.” He further noted that the handset distribution model was poorly constructed and that Apple would look to “innovate” and do “clever” things in addressing that market.

In the interview Cook also talked about tablet market and he believes tablet market would be much bigger than the PC market and iPad alone could eventually bring $60-$100 billion business for Apple. According to Toni, Apple will mainly focus on expanding iPhone and iPad availability around the world by partnering with more carriers.
[Via WSJ]