[PatNY]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

But the reasons why it was falling before didn't go away. It didn't fall faster than before.

But you will never know how much the negative news may be further eroding a price until you refute that news.

And what is X?

11 to 14 million

Actually the word "cheap" belonged to Apple's Senior Vice President of Marketing, which was quoted in the article that you quoted:

But he's referring to the competition (a not too subtle dig there), NOT to any current or future Apple product. Which is my point.

Now I understand that you don't consider that the hypothetical Mini can be called "cheap", but in that case Apple didn't deny the rumor of a Mini, it just denied that it will make a cheap smartphone.

Apple denied the rumors that were out in the media about the "Mini." Not my own personal conception of what a "Mini" would or should be.

For some reason, analysts and writers were going hog wild describing a hypothetical Mini -- and they were using words like "budget" and "cheap" and imagining all sorts of cuts in quality and features. The Apple exec squashed that vision of the "Mini."

Personally, I think it's silly to use the term Mini to describe a phone in the context of the current iPhone line. If it means a screen smaller than 3.5" I think it will fail. If it means going back to a 3.5" but with simply pared down specs, then "Mini" is the wrong word to use since 3.5" is what most current iPhones have. Yes, there is an S III Mini, but that "mini" is in relation to one specific distinct model. And even then, I wonder if Samsung couldn't have come up with a better name.

--Pat