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Most Ameicans 60 plus years plan to stay in their bigger homes and not downsize surveys show. These older Ameicans occupy 28% of these homes. Millenials families with children occupy only 14% of homes with 3+ bedrooms. Boomers don't want to give up their lower rate mortgages. They own about 50% of $32 trillion home equity in the US. The result is to make housing supply for families with children tighter than it would otherwise have been.

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The need for relief in student loans and the 50% of the $1.6 trillion in student loans in forbearance as young people facing high cost of living and accumulated loan interest struggle to make a living. Student loan relief is one of the cost of living actions taken by president Biden. It is one of a series of cost of living actions taken by president Biden including helping ordinary workers and families meet the rising cost of living.

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Self-help aphorisms that are delivered with verve and conviction over and over from Kamala Harris come from Harris's mother Shyamala Gopalan.

"What can be, unburdened by what has been?" Harris herself is unburdened in this way, it appears as one sees her originality and style.

"A desire to honor the women who made history throughout history."

 

 

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On the way the majority of people in China's rural areas live, and how their lives have worsened with the market system. A lack of democracy makes it harder for them to get a fair allocation of resources. Lack of press freedoms and no constraints on authorites at the provincial and county levels makes the situation even worse.The support systems for health, education have collapsed in the rural areas. Even though life was drab in the Maoist period, basics such as health care and education were free or nearly free. Efforts are to throw more money at the problem are being made. The government has allocated an higher amount of 340 billion yuan or $42 billion for agricultural development and rural services. But as the Economist points out the money is only about an additional $7 per person for the 800 million in the countryside. A large part of the problem is that the lower levels of the government are run incompetently. The lack of democracy means that these officials are not accountable to the people they govern. No effort has been made to make these officials accountable by having elections at the township, county and provincial level. The Communist party is placing all its hopes of keeping a monopoly of power on its ability to spend and manage its way. The Economist's prediction is that this will fail because only democracy can bring the kind of accountability that is needed in the rural areas. ...

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The Indian PC market is expected to grow rapidly from now on with growth of 30% a year. About 9 million PC's will be sold in India in 2007. Lenovo, Dell and HP and local maker HCL are all gearing up with extensive sales plans and product lines. The Indian market will see increased sales from larger companies and strong growth also from consumers and small business. In March HP opened a new factory near Delhi, and Lenovo will open a new plant in Baddi in northern India in july to make 2 million PC's, Dell opened a new factory in Chennai in August. HCL is partnering with Intel to make a lowcost PC called the Classmate. HCL once dominated the market but has lost market share to H-P as it made the mistake of being late in the notebook market, only introducing notebooks in 2005. H-P increased its market share by selling in smaller cities in India. H-P has 21% of the market compared to 13.5% for HCL in 2007, according to IDC estimates. Over the past 3 years prices have fallen from $500 to $350, if prices fall significantly again, and there is strong competition between Dell, HP, Intel, HCL, Sony, Acer and other makers, then one should see the Indian market really take off across the spectrum, from larger companies, to small business and the consumer....

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Jerry Brown Attorney General of California and Lisa Madigan Attorney General of Illinois led the negotiations on behalf of the states of California, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Florida and North Carolina, Connecticut, against predatory lending by Countrywide and obtained a settlement of $8.4 billion for homeowners. Shows that states efforts can be effective where the federal government failed. Brown expects loan modifications worth $3.4 billion in California. Congress has proposed various programs but none made it through the legilative process, so this is the largest most comprehensive mandatory loan workout program that exists. The program will be mandatory and will be monitored by state officials. Bank of America owns Countrywide which it acquired and it says that it had anticipated and made allowance for this kind of settlement. Borrowers whose first payment was due between Jan1, 2004 and Dec 31, 2007 can participate. The loan balance must be at least 75% of the current value of the home and the borrower must be able to make the adjusted monthly payments. It will focus on borrrowers who were placed int he riskiest loans because of Countrywide's misleading and predatory lending practices. Under the program Countrywide will reduce laon balances in some and cut interest rates in others. Rates could decline to 2.5% depending on borrowers ability to pay and remain at that level 5 years. Help is also provided for those facing foreclosure or are 4 months behind in their payments and homeowners already foreclosed....

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DJT appeared on Oz's health show in 2016 as a presidential candidate, and sees OZ as a fellow tv show host, a kindred spirit with a passion for what he is doing. As head of Medicare and Medicaid after afailed effort for a Senate seat from Pennsylvania, Oz is still someone whit a keen sense for the politics as well as what is good for the healthcare of Americans. He shares apassion for good health as a goal for America that was held up by JFK, and his nephew Robert Kennedy Jr who now leads the Make America Health Again movement. Oz fervently believes the time for healthy America is now after many wasted years under Clinton/Bush/Obama when national interests were neglected for places like Bosnia in a historical conflict of Turks and Serbia that goes back centuries (Clinton), in the deserts of Iraq (older Bush), in the mountains of Afghanistan that claimed Brezhnev as a victim the younger Bush followed, two wars prolonged by Obama and closed by DJT and Biden. Something as basic as health and pharmaceutical prices was allowed to get as bad as it is in 2026 with prices through the roof. DJT's plan is to get the pharmaceutical companies to commit to certain prices, to the lowest price they sell the same medicine in Europe. This is what Dr Oz wants to see not just for the next 3 years but put into established practice for the future years.  Oz says about presenting the DJT plan on healthcare to Congress and the Nation- “We didn’t demand that they do it. We said, ‘This is something that is very popular and highly achievable.’ ” Healthcare costs, gas and automobile costs, energy costs, housing costs are all part of the 4-5 costs that are the key elements in the cost of living crisis or affordability crisis that is uppermost on the minds of Americans. Already the Medicare payments to insurers are going to be flat for 2026 compared to 2025, as part of policy to get costs down, push pharmaceutical costs down. ...

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Sanae Takaichi press conference with DJT at White House March 19 2026- there is no mention of Japanese help with clearing Straits of Hormuz. US Japan relations after the meeting of Takaichi and DJT at the White House appear to be in good shape. Japan will invest $73 billion in US investment projects in 2026 as part of the $550 billion commitment made at the time of the US Japan trade deal in 2025 under the previous LDP prime minister. Takaichi is coming with strong support in Japan after winning a landslide victory in the general election. Japan's main concern is the belligerent North Korea and China's posture in Asia as it relates to Taiwan. Agreements were reached on critical issues- to develop alternative supplies of critical minerals, to rebuild the shipbuilding industry which US and Japan had given up after dominating it for most of the 20th century. This is critical to ensure open navigation on the oceans of the world. Agreements on high tech and AI, and agreement to purchase Alaskan oil to cut Japan's 90% dependence on volatile Middle East supplies. Japan has managed Middle East supply by keeping over 254 days of inventory but this looks to be very risky as Germany learned from its dependence on Russian oil which went in the wrong direction under Merkel. Japan has released about 18% of its total reserve amount of the 254 days inventory (146 days in national reserves and 101 days in private mandated reserves). It uses 3.14 million barrels a day in 2026 down from 5.8 million barrels a day in 1996, using about half today through conservation and using renewable energy showing the potential for the US and Europe. Germany has cut oil consumption by a third in comparison from 2.9 mbd in 1996 to 2.0 in 2026. And the US remains stagnant with oil demand highest in 2005 at 20.5 mbd and 20 years later at 20.5 mbd mainly because 14mbd or 70% goes to cars and trucks on the road for 347 million people over continental spaces (compared to 297 million in 2005) for a reduction of oil use of 15%. ...

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As Iranian Foreign Minister left Pakistan before arrival of American negotiators showing lack of interest in negotiations on nuclear issue and navigation on which US has insisted, the talks are on pause. The US goal is only for the safety of the Iranian people and the peoples of the Gulf kingdoms, and the Arab world divided into unmanageable countries in some situations by colonial Empires of the British and French in 1921 (Syria, Iraq), the wider Arab world from Egyot to Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, to be free of nuclear weapons. Because these colonial policies not of the US but of the British and French and the counter response of Arab nationalism, have created 5 decades of wars in the world. It is then to remove these nuclear materials to another country such as Russia. The misperceptions created in the media appear in some parts to cast the US as a colonial power which it never was in the way of the Spanish, the British, the Dutch, the Portuguese, the French, the Danish. In fact exactly the opposite. One cannot think of an American who felt deeply for the situation the Chinese people were left in with the Japanese invasion than Gen. Joe Stilwell, as shown by Barbara Tuchman in her book Stilwell and the American Experience in China. Stilwell amazingly risked his life in railroad cars behind Imperial Japanese Army enemy lines in north eastern China in the 1930's because of his deep ly feelings for China at that time. Ever since the US differed with the British and the French on reparations during the Boxer rebellion of 1902, with Woodrow Wilson using the funds to create Tsinghua University in Peking (Beijing), the US has been benevolent in its intentions and as shown in its policy to Africa a partner for nations in Asia and Africa- with China, India, Indonesia, a large part of the Asian population, and now with Africa as shown in the investments in Angola, Congo, Zambia on this page. FDR made it clear in his letter of reply to Gandhi's letter from Wardha whose side America is on even in the middle of World War II. ...

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Andy Burnham, Labour's Mayor of Greater Manchester on what the Labour party needs right now in May 2026 with the faltering leadership of Keir Starmer. Brexit will not be revisited. His program is to give the public relief from cost of living pressures in daily life, and do this faster than Starmer.  Reports in The Times of London show Burnham with strong support to win leadership of the Labour Party. Polls from You.Gov show Starmer has favorability rating from British public of just 23%. The Mandelson affair and appointment of Mandelson as Ambassador to the US after concerns were raised about his record further eroded public confidence. Starmer relied too much on the work and influence of his chief of staff, a young person who resigned and whose influence of removing key Labour working class representatives split the Labour party from its roots in working class neighborhoods. Previous leaders of Labour were ostracized and the party won the general election in 2024, but was much weaker than appeared. He is seen as lacking the vision of his own for Britain for the next decade to 2040. Andy Burnham is popular in the North of England, and has called for more power to go to local government across Britain from the London centric view of the last 4 decades. His redesign of the bus and transport system, the Bee network in the Manchester area is popular, after the sometimes failed  performance of privatization of water, transport and other infrastructure by the Conservative party governments. He has experience in running a large Metropolitan Area for three terms, as MP in a Parliament, and Cabinet experience as Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Health Secretary under Gordon Brown. He is one of the rare persons in British politics who has experience in all areas of government, including Shadow Home Secretary, that would make him a rare leader that Britain can use to build a better future for the people of Britain. With the experience in Greater Manchester giving him a headstart in the work of reviving Britain, something similar to the experience Narendra Modi gained in Gujarat state of India for three terms to lead India in 2014.  ...

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As auto sales decline in Spain, France, Italy and other parts of Europe auto companies are looking at improving efficiency and closing inefficient plants. Italy is tackling labor laws that prevented a revamping of the auto industry to improve productivity. New laws make it possible for companies like Fiat to hire or fire workers rather than having to place them on a state backed temporary layoff program that pays workers two thirds of their salaries while not working. Chrysler-Fiat CEO Marchionne sees sales dropping below 10 million units from the 13.1 million in 2011 if the euro were to disintegrate. With the higher efficiency of Fiat's plants in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe, Marchionne is not willing to make any exceptions for the Italian system any longer. In 2009 Fiat's plant in Tychy, Poland, making the Fiat 500, made 600,000 cars with 6,100 workers, whereas the five largest Italian plants made 650,000 cars with 22,000 workers. Marchionne put forward his 5 year revamp of Italian operations in April 2010 with an investment of 16 billion euros. Unions were asked to agree to new work rules in exchange- shorter breaks, reduced absenteeism, doubling of overtime hours if needed, and pay tied to performance in addition to seniority. In the fall of 2010 Fiat shifted the production of the Fiat 500L to Serbia. Following this unions agreed to the new rules. One of the plants revamped was the Pomigliano plant which would turn out lower cost Pandas instead of the Alfa Romeos at a cost of 800 million euros to redesign the plant for efficient manufacturing. The new plant requires fewer workers and only 3000 of the 5000 workers at the plant have been hired. Priority was given to younger workers. Marchionne sees the revival of the manufacturing plants in Italy closely linked with his plan to import Italian cars to the American market because of the declining sales in Europe. The transformation of the auto industry and Chrysler was achieved by changing work rules and reducing labor costs. A similiar process is now underway in Italy....

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How Elizabeth Warren, a Professor at Harvard Law School, influenced economic advisor Summers and President Obama in their decision to form a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. She met with Summers recently and they have known each other for a long time at Harvard University. Warren has spoken up for consumers, and written several books and articles on the subject of protecting consumers, credit and economic stress. She was the chief advisor to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission and chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel which acted as a watchdog over the TARP program. Ms. Warren says she first got the idea of a financial products agency while researching a 2003 book about middle class families who did well on one income, but now were having a difficult time coping with two incomes. She made the point that it wasn't overspending by many families that was to blame but poorly designed financial products. In 2007 she wrote an article in the journal Democracy about this idea of an agency to protect consumers of financial products. She says overhauling the regulation of financial products is necessary not only to help consumers make good decisions, but also help "make the market work." And she adds that the market "has been badly regulated" through a system of seven federal agencies, each of which has jurisdiction over some aspect of consumer financial products. See the other link in the WSJ of June 20, 2009, by Jason Zweig, which talks about the influence of a friend of Obama at University of Chicago Law School, Prof Sunstein, on the formation of a Consumer Protection Agency. Sunstein, and Thaler, a Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, wrote a book "Nudge" which shows the impact of psychology and the behavioural element in decisions made by consumers. Sunstein and Thaler express the idea that there are advantages in having standard products that cannot lie to consumers, and are based on the "fair-dealing, openness and transparency" the President emphasized. They act as an anchor for all other products, which are compared to these products. ...

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Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is shown to be 90% effective in results from Phase 3 trials. The findings come from a preliminary look at the first 94 infections in a group of 44,000 people in the trial. The vast majority of the cases received a control instead of vaccine. A vaccine is considered effective if it works on 50% of cases. The Pfizer vaccine is based on an experimental "mRNa" technology.

Britain has ordered 5 million till the end of 2020 and another 20 million for 2021. In total Pfizer plans to make a billion doses of the vaccine by 2021.

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This article in The Guardian on the lifting of the ban on a kind of risky research on virus in labs that involves increasing the power of pathogenic virus, first appeared on March 9, 2016. It is called gain of function research. The ban was lifted in 2018. It shows how fiercely this decision was opposed in the scientific community, even as some virologists and bureaucrats went ahead. An agency National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, going by the acronym NSABB would make the recommendations to National Institutes of Health or NIH agency, and the Health Ministry in the US called the HHS.

 

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Largest drone and missile attacks on Kviv and Lviv of the war on August 20 2025 soon after DJT meeting with Putin in Alaska and EU leaders meeting at White House. This has raised concerns that Russia is not seriously working to end the war. The lack of EU peacekeeping force acceptance by Russia poses serious obstacles to Ukraine or the EU supporting an agreement that has no safeguards. It means the war may continue for some time till both sides see no gains from continuing the war. Russia's position at this time is that territorial changes need to be made in eastern region.

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Ford's downsizing of its Visteon auto parts operations and sale of Visteon plants as part of its restructuring effort under Mulally and Fields. The downsizing of Visteon and the way it was handled helped Ford avoid the bankruptcy experienced by GM, say experts.

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As the coronavirus surges in India with over 300,000 cases a day on April 26, a clear picture on the vaccination drive in the country is critical. The following is the picture of the vaccination progress from Union Health Ministry in India as shown in The Hindustan Times. India has vaccinated 140 million people with at least one dose says this report in The Hindustan Times.  On Saturday 24th April 2.4 million doses were given for that day at 8 pm. This was done over 99 days. This means about 12% of the population of 1.2 billion has been vaccinated.  This compares with the vaccination in Germany for about 21% of people vaccinated with over 18 million getting the first dose in Germany by around April 25. Both Germany and India have suffered from vaccine shortages, some skepticism about vaccinations. Gradually sentiment is shifting in both countries so that once skeptical Germany now has about 75% of people willing to take vaccine on April 25, 2021. In India about 6 million healthcare workers have 2 doses of vaccine, and about 9 million have 1 dose. About 6 million frontline workers have 2 doses and 12 million frontline workers have 1 dose of vaccine.  There is a shortage of vaccine supplies and a bold decision was made by the Indian government on April 25th 2021, after the surge of cases to a world wide maximum of over 300,000 cases a day. The decision was to give immediate regulatory approval for the three major vaccines in the US to be brought and used in India. And delivery will be speeded up - no customs duties and fast processing of supplies access to speedy logistical supply routes. This is a huge step forward for the vaccination drive as this means Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines can now be used in India. The government is also urging the companies to make in India or export to India with prices that provide flexibility in pricing for the private market. The locally produced Covishield Astra Zeneca based vaccine produced by Serum Institute will be allowed to be sold to the private market at 600 rupees or close to about $10. Pfizer and Moderna, J&J can price in a way that would be somewhere around this price range. The access to more vaccines and the ability of the companies to make a reasonable profit in the Indian private market means that vaccine supplies should open up in May and June.  This could give a huge boost to vaccination numbers so that India's vaccination percentage of population vaccinated should keep up with that in countries like Germany and France that were slower to get started in Europe but are now catching up quickly. This is a massive achievement because the population numbers are huge compared to Europe. ...

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Each year malaria kills 500,000 people mostly in Africa, including 260,000 children. A vaccine jab for malaria has finally been developed. It took 34 years for Dr. Ripley Ballou, 70 years, to refine the technology while working at GSK in Britain to get this done. Ballou himself had malaria and could experience its debilitating effect. This made him resolve to find a solution. The vaccine jab is the first for a parasite and the first developed from scratch for African children. Its effectiveness wanes over months so that its use is intended for the rainy season. By giving 3 shots just before the rainy season when malaria is at its peak it can reach 70% effectiveness, say British experts. It is cost effective as other prevention measures as nets over beds- it will cost about $2 -$10. When combined with other anti-malarial medicines it is about 90% effective. Its safety is proven after having given 2.3 million jabs of the vaccine in African countries. Experts estimate it will prevent 5.4 million cases of malaria, from Mali to Kenya, and from India to Indonesia where malaria is still a danger. Malaria can repeat itself many times for the same person over a lifetime, increasing the health risks and damage to health. The vaccine was developed using technology that produces a protein that is also found on the outside of the malaria parasites in the early stages of its lifecycle. It exposes the immune system of a person to this protein to build up immune defenses. This British discovery will help African  Asian, and Latin American countries build confidence in their health systems ability to cope with dangerous diseases. In doing this it will improve the quality of life and combined with other health actions provide a better life in the poorest countries.   ...

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WSJ investigations of Facebook and Instagram showed how these social media companies business activity was damaging to young women's health in the US, Europe and other countries. Because of the reach of social media companies into the lives of millions of young people the damage was serious and extensive. This report in the WSJ describes the activities of management at Facebook and the resignation of one of the key executives from burnout herself. This WSJ report says that during the WSJ series on the investigations this and other key executives remained silent on the issues facing young women for mental health in the use of Facebook products.  One WSJ report in 2021 said that company documents showed Facebook knew that the company's products were toxic for teenage girls. Other issues emerged in the WSJ investigations such as the Outrage Algorithm which the WSJ says was made by tweaking some aspects of the company's algorithm as a way to counter dropping user engagement. This led to much angrier discourse on Facebook according to WSJ and other reports. The experiences at Facebook reflect the general experience of this period in 2000-2015 when business management shifted to an entirely different conception of business that ignored the importance of human values in the blind pursuit of rapid growth, profits to make acquisitions of smaller companies for further growth creating monopolistic firms. This extended to disruptions of democratic process with the Cambridge Analytica access to records of data of 87 million Facebook users as reported in WSJ, that were used to target social media users in the period leading to the 2018 election. With such activities the risks could be seen to the democratic process itself in addition to mental health by the emergence of social media in the short period of a dangerous decade 2010-2020, when there was little or no regulation of this medium.   ...

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Questions raised about whether the bets made by trader Iksil of the CIO at JP Morgan Chase were made to hedge risk, or to simply engage in proprietary trading for the bank in the hope of making large speculative profits. Bets made earlier by Iksil made large profits, but were simply speculative trades that increased bank profits. In late 2011 Iksil made a $1 billion bet that some companies would default on their debt in a few months. When American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection Iksil's trades made about $450 million for Chase. But the trade had little to do with hedging risk.

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India is an attractive place for foreign investors with the country moving up 23 places in the ease of doing business rankings of the World Bank. Growth is faster than China since 2015, and GDP is expected to double to $5 trillion by 2030, according to government think tank NITI Aayog. Corporate deal making from foreign investors exceeds that in China. Mergers and acquisitions targeting Indian companies reaching a total of $93.7 billion in 2018, up 52% from last year, according to Dealogic. Overseas purchases were $39.5 billion for India in 2018 compared to $32.8 billion for China. In comparison to China where trade tensions are increasing, India under the Modi government has improved the ease of doing business- implementing a new bankruptcy code, easing foreign direct investment rules, introduced a nationwide goods and services tax to replace a hodge podge of taxes in different states. In the consumer sector Unilever NV made purchase of a malted drink brand Horlicks from GlaxoSmithKline PLC as part of a $3.75 billion deal. Softbank led a $1 billion investment in OYO Hotels. In infrastructure Tata Steel made a $8.3 billion acquisition of steelmaker Bhushan Steel. Reliance Jio's aggressive push in mobile with low prices is leaving the telecom industry ripe for mergers and consolidation- Bharti Infratel acquired Indus Towers for $6.5 billion. Closely held family companies are also selling out their controlling stakes. ...

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Activist investors such as Starboard Value hedge fund are pushing Yahoo to sell its Yahoo businesses and keep its investment in Yahoo Japan (35% stake valued at $8.6 billion) and Alibaba (16.5% stake valued at $35 billion). This would mean the sale of the Yahoo brand with 210 million visitors to its website each month. Yahoo's board has tried changing CEO's, and Marissa Mayer in office for 4 years has tried different strategies including acquisitions but failed to make a difference. Yahoo is not able to generate profits from its business the way Google and Facebook have done, and large investors are losing patience with Mayer. Mobile's importance has grown in recent years benefitting Facebook and Google but not Yahoo in generating more advertising revenues. Yahoo's content is seen as commoditized not commanding the advertising revenue of sites that help navigate the internet (Google) or social media sites (Facebook) that offer unique value to users.

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Google Inc. has made an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $12.5 billion in cash. This deal puts Google in direct competition with Apple Inc., RIM, and Nokia. Google is taking on new risks with this acquisition. It is known as a software company, and the acquisition puts it in an area with which it has little experience- manufacturing and managing sales of devices working with retailers. It also risks making partners- such as Samsung, HTC Corp., Sony Ericsson, and LG Electronics that make mobile phones- into rivals. Forrester Research points out that this could lead to these companies hedging their bets and also making mobile phones that use the Microsoft operating system. Google considered a similiar plan for entry into the PC market after it developed the Chrome operating system but decided against it, opting instead to work with PC manufacturers Acer Inc and Samsung. The deal brings with it a large number of patents Motorola holds in mobile technology.

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The austerity plan that prime minister Belusconi of Italy set before parliament on August 29th was quite different to the plan he agreed to in negotiations with the European central bank. The negotiations led to support by the ECB with purchase of $30 billion of Italian bonds. Berlusconi left out a surtax on top incomes in the private sector. It also left out savings to be made at the local government level by mayors and governors. Berlusconi proposed a new pension calculation which would postpone the retirement of Italians by excluding military and university service. Also being prosposed by Berlusconi and opposed by unions is the extension of the retirement age for women. Unions say this will make it harder for Italian women to care for their grandchildren in a country without an adequate system of daycare. Slowly the whole package of austerity measures seems to be coming apart and this alarms ECB President Claude Trichet and his successor Mario Draghi.

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With the introduction of the iPhone 4S, Apple announced the iPhone 3GS will be offered free, and the iPhone 4 for $99. This puts Apple iPhones priced to compete with smartphones in the middle and lower price ranges in the market. The free iPhone is a model first introduced in 2009. As the expansion of the smartphone market is now ocurring at the low and mid price ranges, companies making smartphones using Google's Android software and Blackberry's RIM are targeting this market. In the U.S., as of the end of July 2011, 82 million Americans owned smartphones, increasing 10% from the prior quarter, according to comScore. 42% of U.S. smartphone users use Android phones, only 27% use Apple phones, as of the end of July 2011, because of the price difference. In India Apple iPhones have barely made a dent because of large price differences. Rapid growth expected in emerging markets will also make this low end of the smartphone market attractive for Apple.