Steve Wozniak's 'Treasonous' Advice To Apple: China Needs A Cheap iPhone Now

Sotheby's International RealtyApple cofounder Steve Wozniak has some "treasonous" advice for Apple on how it can increase foreign sales: make a special cheap iPhone but sell it only in China and other markets where Apple struggles.

Woz spoke in a video interview with Reuters' Sareena Dayaram in Singapore earlier this week. "Cater a special product for that part of the world, which isn't normal for Apple," Woz said about China. "I feel good about some products that are less expensive to build because they are plastic."

That's his idea to help Apple become a player in China, the world's largest smartphone market where Apple's share dropped to a mere a 5% in June, Bloomberg reports.

He also suggested the "almost treasonous" idea of partnering with a Chinese manufacturer to build a "totally different" smartphone than the iPhone and allowing it be sold as under the Apple brand, with Apple "inspecting it to make sure it's a quality product."

But, he said, a cheap iPhone is only best for markets where Apple "isn't the predominant" player. In areas of the world where the iPhone rules, like the U.S., it would be "unhealthy" to sell a cheaper iPhone.

Here's the full interview: