Apple Further Trims iPhone 5c Production as Customers Continue to Prefer iPhone 5s

[troop231]

I wonder if they'll discontinue the 'C' model next year, it may be a smart choice.

 

[MacMulti]

5c is a low cost phone, for apple, really.

 

[Rogifan]

I've said it from the beginning making the iPhone 5C was a failure from a start

Lipstick on a pig is still a pig

Glad to know my iPhone 5 is a pig.

 

[158273]

But isn't Apple allowed to have experiments that fail? There's enormous pressure for them to make every product a bestselling runaway success, and I think it's good that they took some freedom to design something different. Now, they may have done it for the wrong reasons (pressure from the board for a lower-cost phone, etc.) but I think we should give Apple a bit more breathing room. We still get our 5s, let's give them the freedom to experiment and create the 5c is they want.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

The price point is just ridiculous. At this point I wouldn't be very sad if they killed the iPhone 5c next year without introducing a successor.

Well unless they don't drastically lower the price.

 

[Hyper-X]

Apple's Executive Boardroom meeting:

"I just don't get it. People want the phone from last year with a few slight improvements way more than they want the phone from last year with a colourful plastic backplate... why is that?!"

Disclaimer: I LOVE the build of the 5C, but it's simply the wrong price for what it is.

This is what I also believe is the cause of the dismal sales numbers. What point does it make when say the 32GB 5C is only a $100 less than a comparable 5S?

 

[Rogifan]

Well, the thing is that people HAVE been doing that. The 4S was a big seller after the 5 came out. The 4 still sold after the 4S came out. etc.

Apple has done well with the "$100 less for slightly lesser phone" plan for years now.

Since the only difference between last year and this year is the year-old-phone's design, I have to conclude that the design is the problem.

Do we have any data that suggests the 5C isn't selling as well as the 4S did last year and the 4 before it?

 

[numlock]

But isn't Apple allowed to have experiments that fail? There's enormous pressure for them to make every product a bestselling runaway success, and I think it's good that they took some freedom to design something different. Now, they may have done it for the wrong reasons (pressure from the board for a lower-cost phone, etc.) but I think we should give Apple a bit more breathing room. We still get our 5s, let's give them the freedom to experiment and create the 5c is they want.

allowed like anyone else but at the same time people can express their opinions.

the usual apologists will say this is the masterplan and 5c is just to push people towards 5s or whatever they will try to spin.

every person who faces off contract prices could have said right away this is nonsense. so its not as much as making a mistake as being so utterly clueless and full of themselves to think that everything they release is an automatic huge success.

the difference in the off contract prices of the 5s and lesser versions is so little that either people buy the new one or get another brand.

if the 5c was reasonably priced i would probably have taken it. i dont need the latest and greatest

 

[2457282]

the fact they still have any pre iphone 4 activations is a what caught my attention. I understand buying a used phone if you are on a budget, but why a pre-4?

 

[shartypants]

Apple should have known that its users are willing to pay more, that's why they buy Apple in the first place

 

[CJM]

This prove it that people are willing to pay for products and the price is not an issue.

Price is the issue! It's precisely because the 5C is almost as much as the 5S is that it's not selling. No one wants a perceived 'lesser' phone for almost the same price as the high end.

 

[158273]

I was already curious as to what would happen to the 5c in 2014. (No change? The 5s with a plastic back?) And now I'm even more curious.

Not sure, but I'm under the impression that we won't get the 6c until the 6s comes out, so perhaps they deliberately planned only to update the 5c every two years. For example:

2013: 5s, 5c, 4s
2014: 6, 5s, 5c
2015: 6s, 6c, 5s

If they decide to make a bigger iPhone, then the above might look a bit different, because now you've got two flagship models, the 6 and 6L (large).

 

[macnerd93]

It makes no sense. Who wants a phone that at the end of a two year contract is going to be already three years old since it is using last years hardware. For £49 more you can upgrade to the 5S for the same monthly plan with Three-uk.

 

[Ugg]

Too much money for last year's phone in a colorful package. If the price had been 2/3 of the 5S, they might have had some serious sales but only a $100 off, no way.

 

[2457282]

allowed like anyone else but at the same time people can express their opinions.

the usual apologists will say this is the masterplan and 5c is just to push people towards 5s or whatever they will try to spin.

every person who faces off contract prices could have said right away this is nonsense. so its not as much as making a mistake as being so utterly clueless and full of themselves that everything they release is an automatic huge success.

I have said before and will say again -- over time the idea of diversifying the product line is a good idea. having at least two lines makes sense to me. I thin over time they will work to differentiate better.

 

[Thepoobear]

The 5c also has the 5 going against it. The 5c is a 5 with a cheaper back that costs MORE than a 5. If you aren't dying for the colored plastic, what is there to want the 5c for?

 

[Rogifan]

Too much money for last year's phone in a colorful package. If the price had been 2/3 of the 5S, they might have had some serious sales but only a $100 off, no way.

If Apple had kept the iPhone 5 but knocked off $100 would that be too expensive?

 

[likemyorbs]

Because stop attempting to sell inferior hardware for obscene prices. In other news, no one buys the iPad 2 for $400.

 

[Rogifan]

It makes no sense. Who wants a phone that at the end of a two year contract is going to be already three years old since it is using last years hardware. For £49 more you can upgrade to the 5S for the same monthly plan with Three-uk.

But lots of iPhone 4 and 4S's sold last year. I don't remember many people complaining about this strategy prior to the 5C.

 

[cheesyappleuser]

They should keep the 'c' deviation, but the price point is absolutely ridiculous. And don't start with the "the 5c has high-quality components" chatter; considering Android offers for much less, and the iPhone 5s for so little more, I don't get much why someone with minimum information should grab one of those.

 

[kerryb]

green and yellow

I wonder if the reduction is not about one or two colors of the 5c and not the entire product line?

 

[Dwalls90]

Because stop attempting to sell inferior hardware for obscene prices. In other news, no one buys the iPad 2 for $400.

Actually you're wrong. The iPad 2 sells like hotcakes, there was an article about it. That's why they still sell it.

 

[Roessnakhan]

Will they keep the 'c' model going during the next iteration I wonder?

I hope not, I prefer the design to the 5/5s.

 

[Elbon]

More proof that the iPhone 5c is a failure. Apple have lost their way.

Right. Because of one product which may or may not have sold as well as they expected.

 

[giantfan1224]

The 5c also has the 5 going against it. The 5c is a 5 with a cheaper back that costs MORE than a 5. If you aren't dying for the colored plastic, what is there to want the 5c for?

The 5C does NOT have the 5 going against it. It has the 4S and 5S going against it.