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Would it be possible for a carrier (Apple) to "serve one type of phone", as the article suggests? I guess the regulator would not allow that, requiring the use of standards (GSM, LTE,..)? On the other hand we do have SIM-locking already..

Second thought: Would a phone that doesn't support native apps, but HTML5, really be called a 'dumbphone'? Running Javascript even requires a faster CPU for the same experience.

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I am with you. I don't see how you could call it a dumb phone at that point.

It is still a foolish idea. To keep costs down, you would probably use the same chip as your other iPhone / iPod Touch or the previous generation chip. You might have less flash, but the commodity chips have increased in size. The biggest cost savings would be to use the original iPhone LCD resolution. No significant cost savings for Apple comes from just having a browser phone. Plus, it would annoy app developers, increase support costs, and cost Apple their 30% cut. I see it as a no go.

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