Analyst suggests unlikely possibility of no Siri on iPhone 5C to reduce cannibalization

: tested.comOne of the big question marks around theiPhone 5C– the rumored name for themid-marketplasticiPhone – is how will prevent the lower-cost phone cannibalizing sales of theiPhone 5and5S.One possibility is to limit sales of the 5C toemerging markets. could make it available in India and China, where price is a much bigger barrier to iPhone acquisition, and withhold it from North America and Europe. That would make a grt dl of sense, but is extremely unlikely and an approach has ever taken before.Analyst e Munster has another theory, though one just as unlikely: that the 5C will omit a fture of present-eration i:Siri.Additionally, we believe that may exclude some software ftures, such as Siri, which we note was not an option on the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 upon launch …
You canalmostsee the logic if you don’t think about it too much: it’s a core fture of the iPhone, and one that most existing iPhone owners and intenders would not want to sacrifice. As a differentiator between full-fledge i and an entry-level model, it would be a massive one.But that’s also the rson it seems kind of unlikely. Siri is not only available on the iPhone 5, but also the older4S, the iPod Touchand theiPad Mini(which could be viewed as the iPad equivalent of the 5C).Siri is also a fture which has promoted hvily. For a time, it was almost synonymous with the iPhone, and was afture that other smartphone users envied. But that was then: these days,even pretty low-end Android have voice-recognition. Pitching a more expensive phone without it would be a tough proposition today.Finally, we have to consider the source. e Munster’s track-record is, shall we say, less than stellar. There was the Retina iPad Mini he told us was happening in March, the iPhone 5S was going to be out in June, and let’s not forget the HD that he’s basically been predicting every quarter since rly 2011.Still, even a stopped clock is right twice a day, so we wouldn’t rule it out entirely, we just wouldn’t put any money on it.