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5C will not be cheap
- Thread starter josen
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If it doesn't have LTE they might as well give it away on contract. No LTE would be such a huge step backwards. It would not sell...
Ehh I know this guy is banned, but there is so much fail in this thread.....
(1) The flagship level price on iPhones has remained constant for the last 4+ years. The devices start at $199 on contract/$650 off. That will not change. To think that somehow, Apple is now "money hungry" when they've been making a lion's share of the industry profits for the last however many years is silly.
(2) Those earpods are an absolute steal at $30.....best $30 headphones I've ever owned. Oh and you get a pair FREE with the iPhone.....
(3) Apple has absolutely NO PROBLEM cannibalizing other lines. Don't base estimates of iPhone 5C pricing on anything other than a relation to the iPhone 5S. The iPod touch is on the decline as it is (as is the entire iPod line) and I highly doubt Apple is worried about hurting iPod sales - especially when they didn't blink an eye at releasing an iPad mini which, despite being "outdated" on launch, most certainly ate into regular iPad sales.
(4) Apple carries a premium with it. Just the way it is. People pay it and generally their devices have a more premium feel and design (the iPad mini, despite lagging in specs, is without a doubt the best looking and most well made tablet on the market). All the dreams of Nexus-like pricing should've died when they released the iPad mini at $329 (reasonable for an Apple product IMO).
The 5C will be free on contract for 16GB and $99 for a 32 gb - no 64GB option available. I'm predicting off-contract pricing in the $399-$449 range for the 16 GB and $100 more for the 32GB.
The 5S will, of course, continue the normal pricing - however we might see increases in the storage options (32/64/128). The 5C will have the internals of the 5 while the 5S gets A7 treatment.
Plenty of reasons to buy both if you're in the market for a new iPhone /smartphone in general.
iPhone 5S specs:
-A7 + improved GPU
-12 MP camera with an improved f2.0 aperture & dual flash
-32/64/128 storage options
-Fingerprint sensor
-Wifi AC support
-LTE-A
-Notification LED?
-2 GB RAM?
-IGZO Display (perhaps higher res)?
iPhone 5C Specs:
-A6 chip (along lines of current iPhone 5 SoC)
-8 MP camera, single flash
-16/32 storage options
-LTE for sure (perhaps not LTE-A)
-Wifi AC
-NO fingerprint sensor or LED light
-OF COURSE it will have Siri.....
-1 GB RAM
-Current iPhone 5 display tech
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Only two reasons for iPhone 5C:
1) Does iOS 7 (& beyond) well (iPhone 4/4S are deficient here).
2) Get all 30-pin connector devices out of production.
low cost of production is not a myth when you have 3 models of iPhone 5, just to get that LTE chip in there for all the various carriers/countries. http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ ...they have to reduce it to one universal model, like the 4S.
Before you say I'm wrong about #1 with 4S, the 4S will not do AirDrop, and some other new camera app stuff. AirDrop alone will sell iPhones to some, (I know it's not enough for the macrumors followers, but, the younger general public will love it.)
Don't count on even seeing the iPhone 5C in the states. Unless it's $450 starting. I doubt they would make it $400 or cheaper because the iPod Touch would become useless at that point.
Who would buy an iPod Touch for $299 when $100 gets you an off contract iPhone 5C? And given the pattern of: iPod touch gets the last generation iPhone's processor. I would predict that a new iPod Touch will probably have the same processor as a 5C.
I'm betting $450 for iPhone 5C. $200 cheaper.
In China? Flames will ensue because it will probably be $350-400. They need the emerging markets.
Who would buy an iPod Touch for $299 when $100 gets you an off contract iPhone 5C? And given the pattern of: iPod touch gets the last generation iPhone's processor. I would predict that a new iPod Touch will probably have the same processor as a 5C.
I'm betting $450 for iPhone 5C. $200 cheaper.
In China? Flames will ensue because it will probably be $350-400. They need the emerging markets.
It's really annoying that the media keep referring to this as a 'low cost' iPhone... It's damn expensive! A low cost iPhone would be $100 or less. This is just a variant of their ultra premium iPhone 5.
I'm pretty sure emerging markets are buying b stock iPhone 3s for less than $100 these days and they won't be buying iPhone 5cs.
I'm pretty sure emerging markets are buying b stock iPhone 3s for less than $100 these days and they won't be buying iPhone 5cs.
I agree with this statement.
Apple doesn't focus on "cheap" they focus on quality, but they might try to make a quality device, more affordable.
Perhaps, but those of us who want the premium product are going to pay up for the metal and glass phone.
The 5C will get some of the people who otherwise might have gone with Android because of the lower cost.
Hopefully there's more to the "premium product" than just a ~$10 difference in case materials.
--
Re: the LTE discussion. There could be a $20-50 difference in costs (chips, filters, amps, antennas and royalties) between having LTE or not. That's a lot. (*)
If it's that much, Apple might make the 5C a GSM only phone, pump out a ton of them, and profit like heck selling them in most parts of the world.
(*) However, supposedly Qualcomm is coming out with an secondary chipset that would lower the cost of the support parts. That makes predictions more difficult.
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The cost of materials is only part of the cost. While it is fun to see articles talking about the total cost of materials for a phone, none of that takes into account the manufacturing process. If Apple is using the iPhone 5 as the basic internals, they have surely made improvements to the manufacturing process over the last year that will let them save a lot of money. This is why currently, apple can sell a one year old phone for $100 off. It will just become cheaper for materials and manufacturing as the process improves.
Based on how they have sold the old model phone for $100 cheaper each year, there is no way the 5C will cost more than $500. I would say $350-$450 would be more accurate.
Since this is a post-iOS 7 phone, it's got to have a better processor to be able to run it, wouldn't it?
It's the question of the 5C, what's the catch?, kind of thing. I hope Apple knows that there are cheaper phones with better features that people will choose over this predicted low cost phone.
This phone seemingly has no selling point, did the plastic help them out more effort into delivering a more powerful lower cost phone, does it have upgraded specs? Is it a special type of plastic?
It's the question of the 5C, what's the catch?, kind of thing. I hope Apple knows that there are cheaper phones with better features that people will choose over this predicted low cost phone.
This phone seemingly has no selling point, did the plastic help them out more effort into delivering a more powerful lower cost phone, does it have upgraded specs? Is it a special type of plastic?
Apple doesn't manufacture their phone. Others do. For example, Apple reportedly pays Foxconn about $8 to assemble each iPhone.
So, improvements to Foxconn's assembly process would not lower Apple's cost by any significant amount. It simply increases the extremely thin profit margin for Foxconn.
The main reason Apple's able to sell a year old phone for $100 off, is because they are willing to take a less outrageous profit margin on it.
It doesn't matter what Apple prices the 5C at because ...
1. Everyone on this forum will complain it's too high.
2. Wall Street will complain it's too high.
3. People will line up for it and you won't be able to buy one for three months.
There's only been one product that Apple ever announced with pricing that amazed everyone. That was the iPad 1. At $500, it was half the cost that pundits were saying.
1. Everyone on this forum will complain it's too high.
2. Wall Street will complain it's too high.
3. People will line up for it and you won't be able to buy one for three months.
There's only been one product that Apple ever announced with pricing that amazed everyone. That was the iPad 1. At $500, it was half the cost that pundits were saying.
LOL I paid $432.00 for my iPhone 5 at the Apple Store, on contract...my phone bill is $100 a month on AT&T...and I got the phone 6 months after it came out. Given, I have the 64GB model, but the thing is expensive as hell. After my contract is up, I will have paid $2400 in phone bills for the phone. Ridiculous.
The $432 is with tax.
The 5C will be a plastic iPod touch with LTE. The current iPod touch is $299 with 32gb, don't see why they can't sell the 5C for that price.