Apple Announces Colorful New iPhone 5c, Starting at $99 on Two-Year Contract

[wizard]

It is really sad, down right pathetic if you believe anything you posted below.

You're so wrong that you actually belong on Apple's board making these ignorant sales decisions. Congratulations.

You've got to think like the people who you're so positively speaking for.

There was never any shame in owning last year's model when it's successor was already out. You wouldn't feel wrong about getting a previously flagship model out in public. It could be thought you had owned it from it's release.

Where this is different is now it's plain for all to see you've not been able to afford the negligible difference between the two, you've hit you're financial limit. iPhone is a status symbol and the C takes away all the status and the cost doesn't outweigh this loss.

It is a cell phone / pocket computer nothing more nothing less. The fact that it spends most of its time in your pocket in a rubber case kinda undermines its value as a status symbol.

Anyone who I saw walking around with a 5C I would seriously question their judgement and ask them why they couldn't find the extra £80 on top of £459.

Which would go further to highlight just how shallow and mean you are as a person. There are lots of reasons to buy the 5C that have nothing to do with status or economics. People will value the 5C for many reasons and frankly I think sales will be fine. In the US I would doubt that more than one percent buy an iPhone for status improvement, the majority of people would laugh at the suggestion.

 

[bilboa]

Apple failed here. The purpose of these phones should have been to make them cheap without a contract.

Did Apple ever actually say that their goal for the 5C was to create a cheap iPhone? I never saw Apple say anything of the sort. It was just something that rumor sites, including MacRumors, said as a guess. Given that the 5C has the same specs as an iPhone 5, this is no slouch of a phone, so I don't know why people would expect it to be given away for free.

Apple has never catered to the most budget-conscious crowd. Besides it would hurt the whole app ecosystem if Apple made a very cheap low-spec version of the iPhone. Developers who want to take advantage of the current hardware's performance can afford to make apps and games that don't work on lower spec iOS devices from a few years ago. However if Apple made a current iOS device with much lower specs than the higher end devices, developers would be forced to support the low spec devices as well.

 

[ericschmerick]

Dumbest thing I've seen in a while. They should have released this as a free phone, or non-contract at a price like $300.

The main problem is that as a US customer, presuming you don't travel internationally much, you're basically stuck with the contract concept. You're sort of throwing money away if you don't commit to a 2-year deal, because otherwise you're in full-price for the phone PLUS you still pay basically the same service prices (unless you go pre-paid which, last I checked, is still at least partially crippled and the same or more money than post-paid).

So for a US customer you're really just looking at contract prices. You could get an iPhone 5C for $199 or an iPhone 5S for . . . $199. Wait, what? Or you could get a 5S 32GB for $100 more. Don't forget we now have iTunes in the cloud really well integrated with the iOS7 (I've been using the beta for months and I haven't even loaded my music on the phone). So storage space is in-fact a less compelling issue. But even if it was, $100 price difference is really small. I mean, I can't even walk into the grocery store without dropping at least that much. Many times per month.

Strange.

 

[FasterQuieter]

"What kind of idiot would buy a 5C for just $100 less?"

The same kind of idiot who bought a 4S instead of a 5 for $100 less last year. There's another born every day.

 

[k995]

So apple basicly copied the nokia lumia 620 and made it more ugly?

And then added some coves that incredibly makes them even more ugly?

AND makes it TWICE as expensive?

I hope this is for some market that has absolutelty no sense of style and/or value for money.

 

[cburton]

This is Apple selling out.

No, I expect them to have plenty of 5C in stock ... oh wait ...

 

[SBlue1]

great phone, but $100 too much. at least. so no thank you.

 

[ericschmerick]

The iPhone 5C is to the 5S what the 4S has been to the 5. It exists at a lower price point. That's business. Offering phones at different prices, something they've always done, BTW, just with storage size instead of a different model, makes sense to maximize profit for sales of their products all over planet earth (a rather diverse market indeed).

This doesn't mean they "cater to the budget-concious" crowd.

I just think the pricing they've settled on the for 5C is flat dumb.

Did Apple ever actually say that their goal for the 5C was to create a cheap iPhone? I never saw Apple say anything of the sort. It was just something that rumor sites, including MacRumors, said as a guess. Given that the 5C has the same specs as an iPhone 5, this is no slouch of a phone, so I don't know why people would expect it to be given away for free.

Apple has never catered to the most budget-conscious crowd. Besides it would hurt the whole app ecosystem if Apple made a very cheap low-spec version of the iPhone. Developers who want to take advantage of the current hardware's performance can afford to make apps and games that don't work on lower spec iOS devices from a few years ago. However if Apple made a current iOS device with much lower specs than the higher end devices, developers would be forced to support the low spec devices as well.

 

[Ryth]

Apple store is back up. $549/649 off contract. Unbelievable.

Wasn't the whole point of this thing to be a cheaper phone so they could compete in emerging markets (and start getting a little bit of their market share back)? Is that even cheaper at all compared to the previous generation?

Are you sure you aren't getting the 5s pre-order? I find that hard to believe.

 

[dazed]

I predict these will be on a $0 plan soon enough.

As for who will buy it, we have to remember that not everyone reads these forums and knows what a bad deal the C phones are.

 

[toomuchrock]

Who said this was supposed to be a low cost phone?

I'm confused by the response. I keep hearing "the whole purpose of this phone" arguments from people. The purpose according to whom? Your guesses? Others' guesses? I'm sure Tim Cook didn't come out today and say "This is a low cost phone so we can compete with Android phones."

 

[Nicky G]

SUPA KAWAII!!!!

I'll take a 5S, but these things really do scream fun.

 

[AppleMark]

I never realized that those who bought the last year's iPhone were simply doing so in order to tell people they really had it for over a year - lol.

But then if they still have it for the next year, doesn't that reflect on their inability to buy the latest and greatest? They must be sad....

You could tie yourself in knots worrying about what others think about you rather than the things that actually matter...

To be fair, that is not what the OP was saying.

Apple have now created an obvious and visible divide, whether intended or not.

Many people buy iPhone as a status symbol (I don't), you hear it on all the forums.

This move may increase sales in the 5S, (over the trend to buy last years model) and the 5C will 'bomb'. This will not matter of course, as the 'C' was destined for China (etc) anyway, where the £80 difference means something to peoples incomes.

So maybe it will work for them in the end..., as they planned?

 

[AtariMac]

What makes me laugh is how many of you thought it was going to be cheap. As an Apple user from 1994 on, I can assure you that Apple is never cheap. If you want cheap, then buy into another platform.

No judgment here, just move on to where you think you are getting more for your money. That is how capitalism works.

Apple owes you nothing. You owe Apple nothing.

 

[Popinbottles]

Young girls will love it.

While I'm not impressed with the 5C. I can understand what Apple is doing. I bet every girl in Jr. High and Highschool will be begging for one of these at Christmas.

Let's rememeber the ultimate goal is to SELL MORE PHONES

 

[andy9l]

Americans.

Here it's dumb for me to NOT sign a contract.

I could:

A) Get a $199 phone and pay $80 per month
or
B) Get a $599 phone and pay $80 per month

Hmmm...


I know you don't have to put up with such stupid choices. Feel lucky.

Ouch. My girlfriend pays £5/month for 600 mins, unltd texts and 500mb data. She bought the iPhone 5 outright. Doing this saved us £180/year at the time that we did this. Contracts are ridiculous. I feel for you!

I'm on a more flexible package that is genuinely unlimited calls/texts/data (no fair usage nonsense) and it includes tethering. I pay £15/month for the privilege, no minimum term, no contract, no worries. I just sell and buy as new releases come out. It costs a lot to buy into, but once you've got your first phone you can sell and buy a new one for a net loss of about £150-£200. Playing the system and winning, for once!

 

[Small White Car]

Ouch. My girlfriend pays £5/month for 600 mins, unltd texts and 500mb data. She bought the iPhone 5 outright. Doing this saved us £180/year at the time that we did this. Contracts are ridiculous. I feel for you!

I'm on a more flexible package that is genuinely unlimited calls/texts/data (no fair usage nonsense) and it includes tethering. I pay £15/month for the privilege, no minimum term, no contract, no worries. I just sell and buy as new releases come out. It costs a lot to buy into, but once you've got your first phone you can sell and buy a new one for a net loss of about £150-£200. Playing the system and winning, for once!

I visited your country last month. And then France. And then Italy.

In terms of getting my phone online they were all wonderful. You all are lucky.

 

[baryon]

To me this makes perfect sense. There's a whole huge market out there for previous-generation iPhones. Don't you think that it's intelligent to satisfy that market with a current-generation iPhone, rather than just giving them last year's model?

There's no huge difference in theory, but in practice it's very significant: there are now two kinds of iPhones, both brand new, which will satisfy a huge portion of the iPhone market. It's an official answer to those who would have gotten the iPhone 5. It looks different than the iPhone 5, so it's not "last year's product", but it's essentially and iPhone 5, with a lower quality casing. The higher quality casing is reserved for the high-end model, the iPhone 5S.

Personally, I prefer the look of the iPhone 5C to the 5S. It's far more Apple-like, looks more friendly and modern. The iPhone 5/5S looks a bit serious and antique-styled to me. /personally

 

[SirLance99]

Steve Jobs would have fired many people in the design department over this

 

[Twimfy]

Ouch. My girlfriend pays £5/month for 600 mins, unltd texts and 500mb data. She bought the iPhone 5 outright. Doing this saved us £180/year at the time that we did this. Contracts are ridiculous. I feel for you!

I'm on a more flexible package that is genuinely unlimited calls/texts/data (no fair usage nonsense) and it includes tethering. I pay £15/month for the privilege, no minimum term, no contract, no worries. I just sell and buy as new releases come out. It costs a lot to buy into, but once you've got your first phone you can sell and buy a new one for a net loss of about £150-£200. Playing the system and winning, for once!

Here here. I avoid contracts at all costs. I use Giff Gaff in the UK and pay £10 a month which is more than enough for me. So buying a 5C for £100 less than a 5S, the price difference will cover my bill for the year AND I'll own the phone AND I still get to take part in the latest Apple ecosystem despite my suffering income at the moment.

I would have liked to have seen the 5C a little cheaper but it does feel good that I can get something a little newer and more fun for less than a 5S.

 

[bilboa]

Every time I look into one of these I find reports of drastically slower speeds or people who get dinged for roaming out of their primary coverage area. (Or no facetime or tethering or etc. etc.)

Basically, it always seems that "half the price" comes with a catch which is hardly surprising.

Exactly. Those really cheap regional carriers do work for some people, but not everyone. If you don't care about good cellular data speed, and you hardly ever need to use your phone outside of whatever urban area the plan covers, then they can be a great deal. Whenever I've looked into one of those plans in my area though, the coverage area was just too small, so I'd end up paying roaming charges that would probably negate my savings most months.

 

[milo]

Who said this was supposed to be a low cost phone?

Well switching from the metal case to plastic certainly screams low cost.

Apple owes you nothing.

Who ever said they did. Apple releases a product, people are free to have a reaction to that product and either buy it or not. That's how capitalism works.

 

[Ivabign]

What makes me laugh is how many of you thought it was going to be cheap. As an Apple user from 1994 on, I can assure you that Apple is never cheap. If you want cheap, then buy into another platform.

No judgment here, just move on to where you think you are getting more for your money. That is how capitalism works.

Apple owes you nothing. You owe Apple nothing.

Um... no.

Apple shocked the world when they came out with a $499 price for the iPad - media and the market expected $1000 - so they know how to kick ass to get market share - the price of the 5C only goes to show how insanely difficult it is to manufacture the 5 in aluminum - or they wouldn't have gone this route.

 

[Nicky G]

I'm thinking some of you are a tad too young to remember the approach Apple took with the iPod, over the years, since it was first introduced.

Step 1: Release premium product, everyone screams "too expensive!" and then sell a bajillion of them -- this was the original iPod

Step 2: Release what really is still essentially a premium product, just a bit cheaper, people scream "too expensive" and then sell a bajillion more of them (while still selling the original in good quantity) -- this was the iPod mini

Step 3: Release a product that is finally "cheap" (still maybe more than some people think is worthwhile) and then sell a bajillion more of them, all while selling the mid and high-end versions in the bajillions -- this was the iPod nano, and then to a degree, the shuffle

PEOPLE -- Apple is really only on "Step 2" with the iPhone, when it comes to the 5C. When the entry-level 5C is $0 w/ 2-year contract in one more year, then they will have pretty much all of the levels they care to go after taken care of. That lineup will be SICK, I am picturing iPhone 6 at top-end, possibly w/ two screen size options, then the 5S as the mid-tier option, then the 5C as the low-end option. At that point, Apple will have it all locked up. We're not quite there yet. But it wasn't going to happen this cycle anyway!

 

[BlindMellon]

sounds like an awful lot of sour grapes about their iPhones not be so elitist as they used to be.

if i wanted a phone to be a delicate accessory or jewelry, i'd get the 5S. i just want a cool phone (love color options) that does what i want and has enough storage. the 5C fits the bill for many folks.