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Apple Cutting iPhone 5c Production at Two Major Suppliers

kappaknight said:
Way too much scrutinizing here. There is supply out in the wild which makes for the need to over produce not there. No big deal. I really wouldn't judge about the 5c's success or failure till after the holidays though - that's when the mainstream shoppers will come in hordes to pickup the latest gadgets for their loved ones.
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Agreed about the premature conclusions. And as far as the upcoming holiday shopping season is concerned, I believe you again hit the nail on the head; far many more 5Cs will be gifted to teenage kids, than 5Ss. Also a large-scale roll-out to countries outside the US is just getting started, so to some of the naysayers above, let's not jump the gun with gloom & doom declarations.

In addition, I wonder if this shift in production might perhaps also have to do with a more plentiful supply of those fingerprint sensors, the initial lack of which was limiting Apple's total production of 5Ss.
 
phoenixsan said:
remained strong, there is no logic in downsizing production. If demand equals projections, then no need to adjust.....

Sounds like the 5C is just in the mark to make even.....:confused:.....:eek:


:):apple:
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In manufacturing, especially with the first run of a product there are usually high defect rates. The party placing the order will take this into account because it's relatively ok to order too much if they are confident that any extra inventory will be consumed. However, it's relatively bad if you can't produce enough due to a high defect rate - basically you will miss your window of opportunity (usually the holiday season).

So the buyer will place large orders in with several suppliers to mitigate the risk of high initial defects and/or one supplier not being able to meet quality standards.

If all is good (low defects and both suppliers are reliable), then the buyer quickly reduce their orders.

I'm not saying that this is what is happening with Apple... but it's very common with a first production run of a product. If you recall Apple also cut it's parts order for the iPhone 5 by half, several months after release ... and as far I know the iphone 5 sold really well.

.
 
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I see the 5c as a very desirable option. I know I would choose it over the 5s because it feels more durable to me. That's more important to me than the latest hardware because my phone stays in my pants pocket while I work (in construction.) While I love the beauty of the 5s, I have seen them damaged from being sat on while in the back pocket. The 5c feels sturdier, like my 4s, able to take some strain of being in the back pocket while kneeling or crouching. What I don't understand is the pallet of colors they chose and black as the only option for the face. All the marketing for these phones, that I've seen, seems to be directed at females. I'd be curious to see what the gender breakdown is of the people who have bought it. If I were to buy one, I'd go with yellow or white. How odd they didn't offer black or a deeper red. I think black and red look great together, but they didn't ask me. As for the article above, I won't pretend I know either way what these reports indicate. It's just heresay.
 
You want to sell a lot more iPhone 5C's? Simple solution: sell the "unlocked" version at US$329 (16 GB) and US$379 (32 GB). I'd buy the 32 GB at US$379 and use it on T-Mobile USA with their "bring your own phone" plan at really cheap prices. :)
 
BC2009 said:
iPhone 5c is only selling better than every Android phone out there, what does that say about those phones?
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Just that iOS is no longer fighting against Android but with Windows Phone for second place in marketshare. In Europe it's just a 2% difference (iOS 12%, WP 10%). In South America and most countries of Asia WP has already overtaken iOS in marketshare. iOS currently only profits from their US marketshare and that's shrinking too.

Apple vs. Blackberry soon.
 
SactoGuy18 said:
You want to sell a lot more iPhone 5C's? Simple solution: sell the "unlocked" version at US$329 (16 GB) and US$379 (32 GB). I'd buy the 32 GB at US$379 and use it on T-Mobile USA with their "bring your own phone" plan at really cheap prices. :)
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heh heh, why not just give it out for free? I am sure there will be lines outside every Apple store trying to get one. Cost and profit seems to escape most of the people who think $329 is the right price for 5c..
 
Oh here's an idea why don't you release one in black instead of all these wonky pastel colours and drop the price by £100...! Watch them fly baby watch them fly....! lol
 
zacman said:
Just that iOS is no longer fighting against Android but with Windows Phone for second place in marketshare. In Europe it's just a 2% difference (iOS 12%, WP 10%). In South America and most countries of Asia WP has already overtaken iOS in marketshare. iOS currently only profits from their US marketshare and that's shrinking too.

Apple vs. Blackberry soon.
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After five years of same old same old, aren't you tired of posting nothing but anti-Apple comments? How is life at NOkia these days? Think you're going to survive?
 
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zacman said:
Just that iOS is no longer fighting against Android but with Windows Phone for second place in marketshare. In Europe it's just a 2% difference (iOS 12%, WP 10%). In South America and most countries of Asia WP has already overtaken iOS in marketshare. iOS currently only profits from their US marketshare and that's shrinking too.

Apple vs. Blackberry soon.
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Apple is No.1 in % profit of the entire smart phone industry. And Apple are ahead on this metric by a large margin. High volumes shipped don't keep you in business by themselves but large profits do.

The difference?
Samsung and co learnt how to ship a lot of Android phones.
Apple learnt how to make selling smart phones profitable.
 
Shearwater said:
Try Googling..."Apple halving iPhone 5C production due to poor sales"
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Since Apple hasn't released sales numbers, why would I do that? So I can read the assumptions of someone who doesn't actually know what the sales are or why Apple cut production?
 
pondosinatra said:
Anyone know if Apple has come up with an original product that wasn't in the pipeline while Steve was alive?
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If so, they haven't released it. But it's only been a couple years, so relax. If it had been 10 years or even 5, this might be an important question. It's not yet.
 
ccuilla said:
Funny, you ask him if Tim Cook is whispering in his ear, yet confidently assert as fact something that you could only know if Tim Cook (or someone similar at Apple) was whispering in your ear.
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Thats a fair point - nobody knows the actual figures. Why not? Because Apple hasn't released them.
Why doesn't Tim Cook have the guts to release the figures and clear up this needless speculation?

because the numbers don't lie...

Bad sales numbers are embarrassing and would adversely affect the share price.

It's not hard to understand why Apple is staying mum on the issue.
 
ValSalva said:
The emerging markets Apple is targeting are the high end ones in places like China. Ultimately Apple doesn't care if iPhone 5s sales cannibalize 5c sales. Apple is not going to compete in the race to the bottom.
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Well, the "race to the bottom" ends at free on contract in the US.

Prepaid however is a completely different game - which makes up >50% of mobile customers in Europe (and all "emerging markets"). If the 5c would be priced so it'd outsell the 5s 3-to-1 while accounting for 1/2 the revenue of a 5s per device and the 5s shipment growth rate would still surpass the iPhone 5, everybody would be happy.

Let's see how that turned out in, eh, 365 days or so (if the 5c doesn't get cancelled for the 6c or whatever).
 
the8thark said:
Apple is No.1 in % profit of the entire smart phone industry. And Apple are ahead on this metric by a large margin.
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As of 2Q 2013, Samung had 50% of smartphone profits, Apple 53%.

2013_q2_profit_share.png

(The reason it adds up to more than 100%, is because of Blackberry and Motorola having "negative profits". While mathematically valid, a lot of us think it's just a dumb way to present the data. Give us profit and loss percentages separately instead.)
 
kdarling said:
(The reason it adds up to more than 100%, is because of Blackberry and Motorola having "negative profits". While mathematically valid, a lot of us think it's just a dumb way to present the data. Give us profit and loss percentages separately instead.)
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I agree. 53 + 50 + -1 + -2 is a really dumb way of doing it.
 
kdarling said:
As of 2Q 2013, Samung had 50% of smartphone profits, Apple 53%.

View attachment 441514

(The reason it adds up to more than 100%, is because of Blackberry and Motorola having "negative profits". While mathematically valid, a lot of us think it's just a dumb way to present the data. Give us profit and loss percentages separately instead.)
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Why in the world would anyone believe Canaccord Genuity and BusinessInsider (Henry Bloget)? Those are worse than guesstimates. Horace has done a much more objective analysis:

http://www.asymco.com/2013/07/30/that-competition-thing/
 
Shearwater said:
Try Googling..."Apple halving iPhone 5C production due to poor sales"
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LOL. Just for yucks, I did. That rumor was mostly pushed by a U.K. tabloid the Daily Mail, which for whatever reason, some believe is an actual news source. However, assume for laughs that there is any truth to that "news scoop". The report was that daily production was "slashed" from 300,000 to 150,000. 150,000 units per day is roughly 55 million per year. That's a failure? Nice try.
 
mccldwll said:
LOL. Just for yucks, I did. That rumor was mostly pushed by a U.K. tabloid the Daily Mail, which for whatever reason, some believe is an actual news source. However, assume for laughs that there is any truth to that "news scoop". The report was that daily production was "slashed" from 300,000 to 150,000. 150,000 units per day is roughly 55 million per year. That's a failure? Nice try.
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But if you had planned to sell 110 million it is...:D
 
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