BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Analysts have varying opinions on what to expect from Apple this year, but most agree that a lower cost iPhone will appear at some time in 2013.

BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk calls it “basic logic” for the company, saying that Apple can create lower-priced devices, looking at the iPad Mini and the iPod Nano.

According to CNET News, Piecyk is predicting that about 36.5 million lower end iPhones will be sold in Apple’s fiscal year 2014, at an average non-subsidized price of $300. It could add $11 billion in revenue to the company if that happens. "If the management team does not follow this, investors will need to push for a new management team," he said.

Piecyk expects to see the phone before the end of the year, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities is even more optimistic. Kuo expects to see the less expensive phone along with an iPhone 5S introduced in June and launched in July.

According to Apple Insider, Kuo says the lower cost unit may have a casing made of fiberglass and plastic, with standard LTE data. According to Kuo, subsidies with mobile carriers could cover the cost of the phone with a two-year contract.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster sees even higher potential for the low-end device, projecting sales figures could reach 75 million.

CNET News reports that Munster believes Apple will begin selling a $300 non-subsidized iPhone in September. The new device would likely drop the more expensive iPhone market down about another 6 percent, but bring the under $400 market to 11 percent in 2014 from nothing currently.

Munster expects about 26 million iPhones to be sold in the quarter ending in June, while Wall Street is projecting 33 million in sales.