Apple to seek new life for iPhone 3GS in emerging markets

The iPhone 3GS is still being sold in the US and other countries, but by the time the next-generation iPhone appears later this year the 3GS will be getting a little long in the tooth. Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek says that Apple has apparently signed a deal with a global distributor to sell the 3GS as a prepaid phone in emerging markets.

In a note to clients, Misek didn't provide a lot of information but did say that he thinks the wholesale cost of the iPhone 3GS will drop from the current US$375 to $200 to $250. Jefferies has increased its estimates of iPhone sales for the quarter ending June 30, 2012. Misek doesn't believe that other Wall Street analysts are properly accounting for Hon Hai's (Foxconn) plant in Brazil, and thinks that Apple will manufacture between 28 and 30 million iPhones. The pessimists on The Street say that Apple's iPhone production will be about 2 million iPhones less than the range quoted by Jefferies & Company.