Coming soon: the Apple iPhone 5e?

New four-incher from Apple rumoured for March launch may replace the iPhone 5s

Apple is reportedly planning to release a four-inch successor to the iPhone 5s in March. Dubbed the iPhone 5e, the new smartphone will be an enhanced version of the iPhone 5s - hence the "e" suffix - according to Chinese tech news sites.

In addition to a four-inch screen, the device will be based on the Apple A8 chipset and have one gigabyte of memory. It will have a built-in fingerprint scanner to support Apple Pay, an eight-megapixel camera, and offer storage options of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB. It will come with a 1,642mAh battery.

It will be metallic rather than plastic in style and come in space grey, gold, rose gold, silver, blue and pink. The device is said to be under construction now by Apple's preferred contract manufacturer Foxconn.

The iPhone 5s, which the iPhone 5e will replace, was discounted in the January sales from £379 to £279 by Carphone Warehouse in an unusually chunky cut in price for the premium smartphone.

The iPhone 5e rumour is one of a string of stories that have been published in the Chinese and Taiwanese tech press recently, and attributed to sources within Apple's supply chain in Asia.

However, the reports also suggest that the device might, instead of replacing the iPhone 5s in markets like the US and UK, be a lower-cost device aimed at tapping into demand in emerging markets, where Android dominates. With recent reports suggesting that Apple sales have ground to a halt, this may help give Apple's sales growth renewed vigour.

According to the reports, the device will be launched at a major event in March and will become widely available in April. The launch event will also showcase an Apple iPad Air 3 and a new Apple Watch.

Nevertheless, this remains speculation and Apple, as always, refuses to comment on reports and rumours.