iPhone 5 could have a bigger 4-inch display

'Competition is the mother of all inventions.' Thanks to the pressure of keeping and beating the competition, businesses sometimes bring about changes in their products that only underline how desperate these businesses are to break the clutter and stand out in the cacophony. Close on the heels of persistent rumours of Apple planning to launch smaller, cheaper Apple iPhone nano, comes another rumour that the Cupertino-based tech giant is planning to introduce an iPhone 5 with a larger, 4-inch screen (which with same encasement could look like this). The official component suppliers of Apple iPhone 5 noted that the production lines for Apple's next generation iPhone have already begun testing. iPhone 4 currently features a 3.5-inch widescreen touch-controlled 'Retina' display.

4 inch iphone 5 image

The Competition

Apple's move is expected to heat up the smartphone industry market with the dynamics undergoing a considerable change. In direct competition to Apple's iPhone 5 with screen size of 4-inches are smartphones running on Android platform. Already in the market are Samsung Galaxy S and Google’s Nexus S both boasting about their 4-inch displays, Sharp is creating ripples with 5.5-inch screen size smartphone, and Acer plans to launch a 4.8-inch smartphone. Now with Apple joining the bandwagon the 4 to 5.5-inch market is sure to turn into a battlefield where consumers will ultimately have an upper hand.

Current Scenario

Currently, the screen size of the mobile phone defines the market performance of its manufacturer and position of the product. Dell has re-defined the market position of the Dell Streak 5 – originally focused on the tablet PC market – as a super phone. The Dell Streak 5 uses a 5-inch panel which stands in the gray area between tablet PC and handset segments. This indicates that there is a grey area in the market for 4 to 7-inch panels.

iPhones Apple's Business Mainstay

39% of Apple's $ 26.7 billion revenue in the latest quarter came from the sales of iPhones. This only goes to show how critical are iPhone sales for Apple. No wonder the Company came up with this design change aimed to boost the sales further. As per analysts, iPhone sales are expected to grow by 7 million to 13 million units this year. Banking on its encouraging sales performance in the quarter ended December 31, 2010, wherein Apple sold 16.24 million units, and considering the projected rise in demand this year, Apple has begun the sales of its iPhone 4 through another operator, Verizon Wireless, last week.