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iPhone 5C Predicted to Replace iPhone 5, iPhone 4S Sales to Continue

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,882



A new iPhone market forecast by KGI Securities predicts "substantial shipments growth" starting in August and supports the flood of rumors about a new, lower-cost "iPhone 5C", which is widely speculated to be released sometime in September. The report by Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a solid track record when it comes to Apple rumors, highlights five key trends for the upcoming few months:

- The components and the EMS (electronics manufacturing services) for the new iPhone will be ramping up in late-August/early September.
- Hon Hai (also known as Foxconn) will start manufacturing a version of the iPhone 5C supporting the TDD-LTE used by China Mobile in August, earlier than expected.
- Models supporting the TDD-LTE standard are predicted see a penetration of 25% in iPhone 5S and 35% in iPhone 5C shipments, which may boost Apple's presence in China.
- The iPhone 5 will be discontinued at the end of the third quarter, but shipments of the iPhone 4S will continue until the end of 2013. The iPhone 5C is therefore designed to replace the iPhone 5, rather than the iPhone 4S as originally predicted.
- The iPhone 5S will be the more popular model and will exceed the iPhone 5C in terms of shipments.

iphone_5c_shell_compared.jpg
iPhone 5C rear shell compared to older iPhone models and iPod touch (Source: DetroitBORG)​
A move by Apple to discontinue the iPhone 5 was rumored late last month, but it would be something of a surprise for Apple to continue offering the iPhone 4S while discontinuing the iPhone 5. Many had suggested that Apple's work to launch an iPhone 5C was an effort to unify Apple's lineup around the new Lightning connector and 4-inch display, but a move by Apple to keep the iPhone 4S on the market indicates that iPhone 5C is not a true "low-cost" device and is indeed primarily a repackaged iPhone 5.

Kuo suggests that during 2013, Apple will ship roughly 33.3 million iPhone 5S and around 27.2 million 5C units, with 5.2 million and 8.4 million units planned for the third quarter of 2013 respectively. The analyst also predicts that the iPhone 5S will retail at roughly $600-$700, whereas the iPhone 5C will sell for around $400-$500 SIM-free. The iPhone 4S will drop to roughly $300-$400 and the iPhone 4, which would fall to $200-$300, does not fully support the graphical requirements of iOS 7 and thus is likely to be discontinued, although it may continue to hang on for a brief time after the launch of the new iPhones.

Kuo also points to the fact that shipments of the new iPhone 5S will outsell those of the 5C, owing to the new gold color casing and a new maximum storage capacity of 128 GB. The report also says that production concerns over the iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor have eased, with Apple having "a defined timetable demanding yield rate improvement for fingerprint sensor module and casing".

Both of the new iPhone models are expected to be launched on September 10, with the exact time and venue still to be confirmed.

Article Link: iPhone 5C Predicted to Replace iPhone 5, iPhone 4S Sales to Continue
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/19/iphone-5c-predicted-to-replace-iphone-5-iphone-4s-sales-to-continue/
shartypants

shartypants

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2010
922
60
I just can't see myself buying such a plastic phone, but I'm sure it will be very successful. Feature-wise I'm sure its better than an iPhone 4S but must feel cheap.
 
G

gadgetguy03

macrumors regular
Nov 1, 2012
223
143
Why would you not phase out the 4S and make your available product lineup have a standardized connector? I understand why they didn't phase out the iPad 2 (mostly because I think they didn't know how well the iPad mini would perform) but why not just eliminate the 30-pin altogether?
 
H

HarryKNN21

macrumors regular
May 25, 2012
234
0
Hong Kong
shartypants said:
I just can't see myself buying such a plastic phone, but I'm sure it will be very successful. Feature-wise I'm sure its better than an iPhone 4S but must feel cheap.
Click to expand...

I am guessing iPhone 4S will be sold at the same price as 5C, if 5C is cheaper than 4S then who would buy 4S?
 
C

Chatter

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2013
724
479
Uphill from Downtown
gadgetguy03 said:
Why would you not phase out the 4S and make your available product lineup have a standardized connector? I understand why they didn't phase out the iPad 2 (mostly because I think they didn't know how well the iPad mini would perform) but why not just eliminate the 30-pin altogether?
Click to expand...

They are phasing out the 4S. Hence the "sell till end of 2013" which essentially implies they will liquidate all leftover inventory. Caveat: if this rumor pans out. ;)
 
S

syd430

Guest
Eerily reminiscent of the Apple of the late eighties. They difference (hopefully) is that all these product variants are aimed at emerging markets where a gold iPhone, 5C etc would make more sense.
 
SwiftLives

SwiftLives

macrumors 65816
Dec 7, 2001
1,356
341
Charleston, SC
I'm still not convinced the 5C will be the free w/contract device. I expect it to fall in the middle.

Free - iPhone 5 - 8GB
$99 - iPhone 5C - 16GB
$199/$299/$399 - iPhone 5S - 32GB/64GB/128GB

Why? Because I suspect Apple is expecting to sell lots of the iPhone 5C handsets. And by charging an extra $100 for them, they will make significantly more money.

I do expect that in a year or two, the 5C - specifically the plastic colored handsets - will become the low end option. Just not at launch.

I also think that anything with the old dock connector will be discontinued. So the iPhone 4S is unlikely to stick around.
 
A

absynth

macrumors regular
Nov 8, 2009
165
43
Maybe they keep the iphone 4s around until the rumored iphone 5 max will be introduced in spring '14.

Then everything would move downmarket about a hundred dollar with the iphone max at the old iphone 5s price point of 200, 300 and 400 for us contracts.
 
Redbeard25

Redbeard25

macrumors regular
Oct 4, 2003
155
17
Agreed

veneto said:
No.
Click to expand...

No 30-pin connectors after the next update. Well... maybe on the iPod classic.

I think:

5S - new top of the line

5C - same camera and internals as iphone 4, same screen as iphone 5.

The S is for "super pictures."
 
BMcCoy

BMcCoy

macrumors 68000
Jun 24, 2010
1,718
3,421
This would only make sense if the 5 -> 5S is a very small upgrade (like the iPad 3 -> 4 as someone said above) and so it can be hidden in a keynote that focuses on the 5C.

Possible, but unlikely for many reasons.
 
S

Steve at Jobs

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2012
24
0
Who would buy iPhone 5S for 199$ if you can buy basically same iPhone 5 for 99$. Apple can't innovate 5S enough for make it resonable buy over 5, so they'll make 5 worse. But I still can't believe that gonna happen.
 
Redbeard25

Redbeard25

macrumors regular
Oct 4, 2003
155
17
SwiftLives said:
I'm still not convinced the 5C will be the free w/contract device. I expect it to fall in the middle.

Free - iPhone 5 - 8GB
$99 - iPhone 5C - 16GB
$199/$299/$399 - iPhone 5S - 32GB/64GB/128GB
Click to expand...

The only reason I think not is because then you have the 5C sandwiched between two identical (looking) phones. I could see a 5C that has cheap internals for free, and then 5Cs that you want to buy that you would pay for.

----------
Steve at Jobs said:
Who would buy iPhone 5S for 199$ if you can buy basically same iPhone 5 for 99$. Apple can't innovate 5S enough for make it resonable buy over 5, so they'll make 5 worse. But I still can't believe that gonna happen.
Click to expand...

More reason to discontinue the 5.
 
K

Kissaragi

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2006
2,340
370
Seems odd to keep the 4s around after releasing this. Wouldn't bode well for the price of the new c either.
 
Redbeard25

Redbeard25

macrumors regular
Oct 4, 2003
155
17
absynth said:
Maybe they keep the iphone 4s around until the rumored iphone 5 max will be introduced in spring '14.

Then everything would move downmarket about a hundred dollar with the iphone max at the old iphone 5s price point of 200, 300 and 400 for us contracts.
Click to expand...

I'll only buy it if it's called the "5 Macs."
 
E

Erphern

macrumors 6502
Mar 6, 2013
285
75
UK
Ming-Chi Kuo, "who has a solid track record when it comes to Apple rumors", has failed hard at being right about anything this year.
 
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