(Column) - I've been somewhat excited about the iPhone for a while now, and after all, it's something to be excited about. With one of the best product launches in the history, not only has Apple rekindled the fire to have yet another Apple product in your portfolio, but the company has shaken the entire mobile industry singlehandedly. Maybe now we'll see some interesting phones come out. It's always pathetic to see companies (and industries, for that matter) go stale for years until an underdog comes along and kicks everyone into high gear to start innovating again. Thanks, Apple! With that out of the way, today's latest news is the supposed launch of a crippled version of iPhone, the iPhone Nano, in the near-term for a reasonable price tag of $300. 

The initial research comes from JPMorgan Chase, and it's interesting to note the contradicting nature of the source. While JPMorgan Chase's initial report came from its Taiwanese Analyst Kevin Chang, who cited anonymous sources in the retail channel and patent filings, later today, the research firm's New York Analysts Elizabeth Borbolla, Bill Shope and Vlad Rom issued another report that claimed that they don't expect Apple to launch the iPhone Nano anytime soon. So, now that the initial hoopla of research is out of the way, let's be a bit more practical and think through this.

There is no way Apple is going to undermine the value of the original iPhone, and give hesitant consumers a reason to hold back and wait for the cheaper version to show up. C'mon, Steve Jobs is smarter than that. If he can lock us with AT&T, he can certainly wait a year to introduce the iPhone Nano and get us addicted to the feature rich version of the iPhone series. Besides, iPhone, if it hasn't taken off yet, will be the best selling product in the consumer electronics space come Q4, the shopping season, and the most sought after season for Apple.

iPhone Delivers on Excessive Hype

The rumors also suggest that the iPhone Nano will have a scroll wheel, which doesn't make sense at all. Isn't the selling point for the iPhone its touchscreen and the interactive user interface? In that regard, why would Apple cripple the iPhone Nano so much as to ruin the entire experience. I seriously doubt the iPhone could be anything but a smartphone, at least I don't think Apple plans to enter the mainstream phones category. Apple is supposed to the best brand that justifies ludicrous price tags with the Apple experience. Give me a clunky old candy bar phone from Apple, and I won't be pleased. While I can see the motivation to cripple the iPhone to enter into the Asian market with a "digestable" price tag, Apple has never shied away from high prices. Hey, it's not like Apple competes against anyone. It lives in its own world, you know.

In essence, considering Apple's desire to fiercely capitalize on the iPhone, a product that took years to develop, it would be insane to expect a cheaper version soon. Besides, even if the cheaper version is in the works, which I don't deny, it has got to be better than the iPhone with a scroll wheel. That would be utterly disappointing. Not to mention, now that JPMorgan Chase's research is null and void, should we still talk about the iPhone Nano? For all intents and purposes, it's not expected anytime soon.

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