Apple to introduce $99 or $149 iPhone on Monday, analysts say

Analysts said in the article that Apple wants to show off either a $149 phone or a $99 phone at its Worldwide Developer's Conference. The current low end price of the device is $199, subsidized in exchange for AT&T's contract.

That the economic downturn hasn't quite rebounded only makes such a move more possible. One analyst said that a $50 price cut could increase demand by 50 percent and a $100 cut by 100 percent.

Globally, Apple is hardly the mobile leader: it sells about 11 percent of the world's smartphones, trailing Nokia's 41 percent and Research in Motion's 20 percent, according to Gartner figures from the first quarter.

Complicating these figures further is the launch of Palm's highly-anticipated Pre smartphone on June 6 and the bevy of Google Android-powered phones due to launch this summer.

Regardless of price point, analysts are still expecting Apple to introduce a new iPhone on Monday, packing various new features. It's expected to start production in July with Apple's iPhone OS 3.0.