John Sculley: Apple needs a cheap iPhone

Former Apple CEO John Sculley says Apple must make a cheap iPhone to tackle emerging markets. The CEO who ran Apple into the ground in the 1990s made the comments on a Bloomberg Television interview from Singapore. The comments come after AAPL sunk to below US$500 a share yesterday -- the lowest its been in 11 months (although there may be some shady reasons behind the stock fall).

Sculley said, "Apple needs to adapt to a very different world. As we go from $500 smartphones to even as low, for some companies, as $100 for a smartphone, you've got to dramatically rethink the supply chain and how you can make these products and do it profitably."

Noting that there was "nothing wrong" with the current iPhone, Sculley however said that Samsung has become "an extraordinarily good competitor" and the differences between its devices and Apple's aren't as wide as they used to be.

Sculley didn't say whether he thought the US and Europe needed a cheap iPhone, but he sees it as essential in economies such as India, South America, Russia, China, Africa and other parts of Asia. He also said that because of Tim Cook's supply chain expertise and Apple's apparent choices recently to improve update cycles from 12 months to six months, Apple's current CEO is "exactly the right leader" for Apple at this time.