Apple Developing Cheaper iPhone Line

If you’ve managed to resist Apple’s pricey smartphones for this long, you may be running out of excuses: The company is developing a new line of less-expensive iPhones to compete with its growing number of competitors in the smartphone market. The new device will be about half the size of the iPhone 4, the newest model of the company’s celebrated phone. And it will be made available to carriers at about half the cost of the main iPhone collection, allowing it to be sold at prices comparable to those of other brands’ smartphones. Apple currently sells top-of-the-line iPhones to carriers for $625 each; with carrier subsidies, customers can buy them for as little as $199 with a two-year-contract.