The rumours regarding more affordable Apple iPhone devices began to emerge a while ago due to the fact that the demand towards products from Apple is increasing and the company will not loose a chance to capitalize on it, but the iPhone is a not exactly an affordable products. Well, Apple has teamed up with AT&T and BestBuy for a campaign during which iPhones can be obtained for $99.

In order to get Apple iPhone 8GB for $99, customers have to be BestBuy’s Premier Silver Members and will have to sign a contract with AT&T cellphone network operator for two years. Finally, the campaign only lasts till Saturday, the 28^th of February, and while supplies last, hence, there will hardly be millions of Apple iPhones sold.

It is widely believed that Apple is preparing a special version of its iPhone gadgets with reduced price and cut-down functionality, but the company has always denies such a plan. However, considering the fact that now Apple is trying to sell iPhone via BestBuy at a discount, the company may end up with a new more powerful iPhone aimed at premium consumers and continue selling previous-generation iPhones to those, who would like to save.

There are lot of rumours and no actual information regarding the next-generation iPhone. Back in September ’08 Wei-han Lien, the senior manager of Apple’s chip team, said in an entry at LinkedIn web-site that he managed “ARM CPU architecture team for iPhone”. However, sources familiar with Apple’s plans implied earlier in 2008 that the company did have plans to put Intel Atom inside the iPhone, but that would cause Apple to re-create its software for the device.

It is logical that amid global economic slump consumers will cut their spending and the demand will shift to more affordable products. Apple does have lineups of iPod digital media players and personal computers that include both inexpensive and premium products, but the iPhone exists only in one version that is relatively expensive. As a result, a cheaper version of the product is definitely needed on the market.

Tags: Apple, iPhone