Apple 'plans' Nano-based iPhone
Updated on 10 July 2007
Less than two weeks after the US launch of the Apple iPhone, reports suggest the company is planning to build a cheaper, smaller version of the mobile phone based on the iPod Nano music player.
According Kevin Chang at financial analysts JP Morgan, the phone could be launched before the end of the year.
Despite silence from Apple on the subject, Chang said the Cupertino-based computer company had filed a patent application document dated 5 July that refers to a multifunctional handheld device with a circular touch pad control - similar to the Nano's scroll wheel.
The iPhone is a combination of mobile phone, music player and web browser and went on sale in the US on 29 June.
Sales for the first weekend are estimated at 700,000. It retails in the US for between $500 and $600.
Chang said: "We believe that iPod Nano will be converted into a phone because it's probably the only way for Apple to launch a lower end phone without severely cannibalizing iPod Nano."
