Schiller Speaks. Apple's Phil Schiller addresses rumors of cheaper smartphones in Apple's future. Photo from Mike Deerkoski and found on Wikipedia.

MANILA, Philippines - An interview by Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller mentions how Apple doesn't think cheaper smartphones will be "the future of Apple products," obscuring the issue of lower-priced iPhones a little further.

The Shanghai Evening News had an interview with Schiller regarding Apple's products in the Chinese market. The interview, which was verified by The Next Web as official, mentioned how Schiller discussed the trends in China. "At first, non-smartphones were popular in the Chinese market," he said, adding that, "now cheap smartphones are more popular and non-smartphones are out."

Schiller continues the discussion by stating, "Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products. In fact, although Apple’s market share of smartphones is just about 20%, we own the 75% of the profit."

While this appears contrary to an earlier report made by the Wall Street Journal, the wording may be suspect to interpretation.

The implication behind saying "cheap smartphones" is that of a phone with lesser quality, but an earlier statement of Schiller's on considering "using only the best technology available" to make iPhones can still mean the creation of a lower-priced phone using excellent, though perhaps slightly outdated, tech. - Rappler.com