Apple to broaden iPhone lineup with more screen

Apple on Wednesday was expected to unveil new iPhones, playing up eye-grabbing edge-to-edge screens in a bid to strengthen its position in a largely saturated global smartphone market.

Apple has remained mum about revelations planned for the event at its spaceship campus in Silicon Valley, but the timing fits its pattern of annually introducing iPhone updates.

In a first for Apple, the event will be streamed live on Twitter. Speculation includes talk that Apple will introduce three new iPhone models infused with features from a premium iPhone X that debuted last year with a USD 1,000 price tag.

Top among those features will likely be edge-to-edge screens that promise to provide about 30 percent more viewing space without increasing the size of overall handsets.

"I think they are trying to set a new high bar," analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said of new iPhones expected to offer more display without increasing the size of the handset.

"The big thing is going to be how they fit such a massive screen into such a small device." One new iPhone was likely to be priced slightly lower than the X model to "capture the next wave of buyers" in markets such as China, western Europe and the US, according to Moorhead.

While the iPhone has made Apple the world's most valuable company, worth more than USD 1 trillion, it has slipped to third place among smartphone makers as Chinese-based Huawei has grabbed the number two spot.

Still, analysts say Apple has a formula that works with a loyal customer base and steady sales.

"Apple doesn't have to prove anything, other than that they are willing to segment the market more," Technalysis Research chief analyst Bob O'Donnell said, while pointing out that the company will likely be "offering a wider array of choices."