Apple's low-cost iPhone won't be cheap, says Pegatron CEO

(Credit: Apple)

Has one of Apple's major suppliers just outted the much-rumored low-cost iPhone?

At a shareholders meeting on Thursday, Pegatron CEO T.H. Tung served up one intriguing comment about the so-called "cheap" iPhone, suggesting that the product is real but that it won't be cheap, according to China Times as covered by blog site Macotakara.

Tung said the price of the phone would be "fairly high," though he apparently didn't reveal any specific price ranges. The CEO explained that compared with cheaper feature phones, today's smartphones are able to do so many things that they justify their higher prices.

Apple has been shifting some of its manufacturing work away from Foxconn in favor of Pegatron in part to avoid relying on a single supplier.

Pegatron has reportedly been tapped as the major assembler of the low-cost iPhone, the Wall Street Journal reported in May. Earlier last month, Pegatron said it would build up its workforce by 40 percent during the second half of 2013, according to Reuters, suggesting that the company may be ramping up its factories to prep for the low-cost iPhone.