Are we ready for the $300 Mini-iPhone?

"If Apple wants to claim more smartphone marketshare it has to introduce a "mini-iPhone" says Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron in a note this morning."

Apple undoubtedly sees the vast untapped market for smaller, cheaper smartphones in the emerging and pre-paid markets, and also sees Android currently ruling the space, as both Nokia and RIM continue on their downward cycle. So, the talk of a smaller, cheaper iPhone has again started bubbling-up in the press, with the discussion centering on a $300 Mini-iPhone. Cheaper is always a big selling point, and even Apple has admitted that an iPhone "for everyone" is a good idea. I wonder though, if an average consumer with a battered five year-old RAZR is ready to spend even $300 on a phone, albeit unsubsidized, unlocked and unbundled. Do we maybe need a $100 Mini-iPhone?