Apple Reportedly Cutting iPhone 5c Production as Chinese Gray Market Prices Drop

[Rogifan]

This is what I don't get... In a world where the 4S still performs a lot basically all of what most smartphone users need, using "last year's model" as an insult does't really make sense. The iPhone 5c matches up technically with basically all smartphones currently on the market. Two years from now, it may underperform, but right now, it doesn't. The phone, from an internals perspective, basically flagship level.

And that's where I scratch my head. Should Apple make some 2013 version of the A6 so people can say its not last years tech? Or should Apple have put A7 and M7 and Touch ID in the phone? But if they did could we really say the phone should be 100 cheaper just because the shell is colored plastic? Are there real world statistics that show the 5C to be a slouch to comparable Windows/Android phones? And I'm talking purely performance, not price.

 

[neoelectronaut]

...but do you think even a single person in those ads actually paid for the phone?

That's besides the point. The poster I originally quoted was claiming that Apple was only marketing to teenage girls.

We're not afraid of color, but most men have completely different color preferences than all the teenage girls the 5C is marketed towards.

I don't want bright, shiny, sparkly, trendy, neon colors that scream-out to the world, "Hey, look at me! I really want your attention so you will notice how "cool" I am!"

In my opinion, It's really narcissistic, much like the majority of American women/girls now.

 

[croooow]

What you see as black is still the absence of colour

When they make the black parts of an iPhone black, do they do it by removing color? (This whole color thing started with people suggesting black and grey iPhones and others saying those are not colors)

When you look at a black object (a black iPhone, a black car, etc) you are still seeing something, it is not the absence of light. Why do some cars available in more than one black?

I noticed no one address grey and white in my original post

Since when are Black, Grey and White not colors?
Image

Everyone thinks Apple is getting the black components of the iPhone from the center of a black hole?

 

[D.T.]

When they make the black parts of an iPhone black [...]

How much more black could the iPhone be?

None.

None ... more ... black.

 

[croooow]

How much more black could the iPhone be?

None.

None ... more ... black.

Now, those guys know about color!

The original iPhone 5 was supposed to have an image of a greased naked woman on all fours with a dog collar around her neck, and a leash, and a man's arm extended, holding onto the leash, and pushing a black glove in her face to sniff it.

Tim said it was sexist and Jony asked what's wrong with "being sexy"?

Then they went with black/slate

 

[D.T.]

Image

Now, those guys know about color!

Nigel actually looks like he's holding an iPad of some sort

 

[alexgowers]

Apple used to have almost endless failure products in the past. No one can forget the cube, the very early macs that didn't work properly etc.

This is a mistake by apple for sure but it's not a disaster by any stretch of the imagination! I mean they probably sold more than blackberry did of the z10 in the short time it's been out.

I still believe they could have released a 5s to fanfare as it is and then provide a larger tease phone for later in the year, which is going to happen anyway. That would have been the best route.

Also I hate the naming system. Apple has never in the past kept numbers with the monikers, the ipad is now just called the ipad and the ipad mini, They should have dropped the 'S' and the '5' to be in line with that.

It should have been the... iphone mini (5s)
and then the .... iphone (4-5 inch large 5s)

Apple please just drop the numbers please please.

 

[croooow]

Apple used to have almost endless failure products in the past. No one can forget the cube, the very early macs that didn't work properly etc.

Not sure how this is a failure. The 5c is not a new model, just a repackaged 1 year old phone. Do we know that the 4S sold so much better from the time the 5 first came out last year compared to the 5c? How did the 4 sell when the 4S came out?

Apple tried something new this year, they didn't stick with the old model of selling the old model for $100 less. How do you know it failed (and has it been long enough to declare? Maybe after Christmas?

 

[FelixAng]

Failure compared to what?

Compared to the 5S and other "new" products by Apple it is a failure. How many times has a "new" Apple product dropped in price (by retailers) and demand in less than 3 weeks from store-release?
This is no big deal if you think of the 5C as a cheap iPhone 5, but it's pitiful for a "new" product. It was a smart move for Apple--killing off the 5, drawing a finer distinction between 5S and "the others." Side-by-side, consumers see the 5S and and the $549+ price (outside of the US) and it's pretty clear...the 5C, at that pricepoint, is no match for the 5S.

I still remember all the MR readers googoo-gaga-ing over the 5C and saying how it would be a big hit---the rest of us (who saw through the candy shell) knew quite clearly this phone wasn't designed to be a big seller.

 

[croooow]

Nigel actually looks like he's holding an iPad of some sort

The new iPad square!

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Compared to the 5S and other "new" products by Apple it is a failure.

And why did you put the word "new" in quotes? Because the 5c is not really a new product. It's an updated/repackaged iPhone 5.

 

[FelixAng]

I've been by the Grand Central station Apple store twice in the last few days. The first time, about a week ago, there was a line ten people long buying 5cs. Yesterday morning (at 8:00 a.m.) there was a cluster of four or five people buying them. With folks showing up about as fast as the Apple folks could sell them.

Supposedly the Moto X plant is scheduling 150,000 phones per month for US sales. And this is supposed to be Google's next flagship phone.

Nexus 5 will be the new flagship for Google. Moto X is the Google-Motorola division---not pure Android.

 

[croooow]

The first time, about a week ago, there was a line ten people long buying 5cs.

That makes really curious: what they are going to do next year when the "iPhone 6" comes out and they sell what we now call the iPhone 5s for $100 less but in colorful plastic?

The iPhone 5sC? just keep the name 5s?

 

[Scott6666]

I think Apple just wanted to gouge the price on the 5c until the 5s stock comes up a bit. Then they will lower it by $100 or so to be the cheaper phone.

No reason to do that initially because supplies of the 5s are so limited. Just taking some extra c dollars while they can! Not leaving any $$$ on the table.

 

[croooow]

I think Apple just wanted to gouge the price on the 5c until the 5s stock comes up a bit. Then they will lower it by $100 or so to be the cheaper phone.

No reason to do that initially because supplies of the 5s are so limited. Just taking some extra c dollars while they can! Not leaving any $$$ on the table.

How is it a price gouge?

And did they do that last year with the 4S, or the year before with the 4? And those were both 8GB models for $100, right?

 

[NeonGreenHermit]

The thing is, at least in the UK, there is a more significant price difference between the 5c and the 5s. On O2, for example, the cheapest plans for each add up to £1008 for the 5s (£42 x 24 + £0 up front for the phone), and £797.99 for the 5c (£32 x 24 + £29.99). £200 extra is a fair chunk, especially for people who want iPhones but don't care for premium features which will be overshadowed by even shinier features in 12 months time.

I myself have taken up a 5c and love the look and feel of the device - it wasn't a case of a poor man's choice, but rather an adult decision to get a phone that suited and appealed to me, rather than ponying up for the latest and greatest for the sake of it, or to impress others with my spending power like a great many Apple users.

Also, as I work for a partnered O2 company, I got a 30% discount (5s is specifically excluded), so have ended paying almost half the price I would for a 5s... I really couldn't be any happier with my purchase.

 

[captain kaos]

I was very close to getting a 5c. If i wasnt renewing a contract, and staying unlocked, and the 5c was cheap and i mean, much, much less than the 5s, i would've got one. I liked the idea of having a coloured phone without having to have a bulky case. In the end it wasn't a bitg difference in price, so i made the jump to the 5s to get the more future proof tech. And bought a nice official yellow 5s case, which ends up looking like a 5c anyway.

The 5c was a good idea, but i honestly think apple have messed up with t he pricing (and trying to pull the wool over the less techy peoples eyes about it being a totally new phone), in that apart form the case, they are selling last years phone, so the price should reflect that. The 5c is really a way to pull people to buying the older phone (part) stocks when they walk into a store, and im sure apple thought it was a way to get more of those sales rather than selling one size of the older phone like that have before.

 

[Rogifan]

I was very close to getting a 5c. If i wasnt renewing a contract, and staying unlocked, and the 5c was cheap and i mean, much, much less than the 5s, i would've got one. I liked the idea of having a coloured phone without having to have a bulky case. In the end it wasn't a bitg difference in price, so i made the jump to the 5s to get the more future proof tech. And bought a nice official yellow 5s case, which ends up looking like a 5c anyway.

The 5c was a good idea, but i honestly think apple have messed up with t he pricing (and trying to pull the wool over the less techy peoples eyes about it being a totally new phone), in that apart form the case, they are selling last years phone, so the price should reflect that. The 5c is really a way to pull people to buying the older phone (part) stocks when they walk into a store, and im sure apple thought it was a way to get more of those sales rather than selling one size of the older phone like that have before.

My guess is the less techy people don't care if it has the latest and greatest specs. Millions of people are using iPhone 5s right now without thinking its an inferior phone.

 

[MaSx]

No ****. Plastic is only $100 less *smh* iPhone 5S is the way to go if you really need one.

 

[Jynto]

No doubt, I agree with you. It was a brilliant move by Apple to gain control over the used iPhone market.

But, there's a problem. Nobody's buying them. Activations have been dwarfed by a near mythical iPhone (the 5S), everyone has slashed their prices, now they're cutting production on a phone that was introduced less than a month ago! Are you hearing this for the 5S? Go to Apple.com or walk by an Apple store; marketing for the 5c is all you see.

That's where they failed. Apple stores are the wrong place to advertise the 5C, a phone targeted largely at non-Apple users. That sort of customer is even less likely to visit apple.com. Apple should have targeted TV or billboards for advertising (they tried, but they could have done more). It worked wonders for the iPod.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Funny enough, a physicist - MIT grad - who was doing some side work actually painted one of the rooms in my house black. Asked him what I owed him for supplies and he said nothing, since he didn't add any color ... only subtracted it.

For some reason reminds me of the story of the engineer, the biologist and the mathematician eating lunch at a restaurant together. They see two people walk into a building across the road, and moments after three come out. The engineer throws his fork into his plate and says, "that's impossible!" The biologist replies, "not necessarily, they may have reproduced while they were inside." The mathematician thinks about this problem for a moment and says, "if one more person goes in, the building will be empty."

 

[opinio]

Drop the price and tone down (or add to) the colors then they will sell.

 

[captain kaos]

My guess is the less techy people don't care if it has the latest and greatest specs. Millions of people are using iPhone 5s right now without thinking its an inferior phone.

Sorry, i didn't think i say the 5s is inferior?!

Anyway, i think the markets/buyers have spotted the trick of the 5c being a re wrapped iphone 5, and the pricing doesn''t help sway people to go with a colourful 1 year phone. That's the main issue with the 5c. If it was cheaper some people would go with it, and its a different sale this time around. Over the last few years a single storage size of the last model would be sold at a cheaper price point and people knew what they were getting. This time around non techy people would look the 5c and see a "new" phone (not knowing its basically a 5), and see it very close in price to a 5s and they'll end up thinking "well i may as well go with the 5s, its got a funky finger print scanner and nice camera".

 

[FelixAng]

I am an owner and a big fan of a yellow 5c. That said, it is entirely possible that Apple overestimated 5c demand relative to the 5s.

1) Most customers don't understand that there is more than one iPhone. People have asked me "You have the new iPhone" and don't know the difference between the two.

On the other hand, many of them see the 5S as new and the 5C as plastic.

 

[richnyc]

I'd only consider the 5c if it was priced at or below $450, and even better at $399 (for the 16GB model), but I just upgraded from iPhone 4 to 5s so it's settled now anyways

 

[Rogifan]

Sorry, i didn't think i say the 5s is inferior?!

Anyway, i think the markets/buyers have spotted the trick of the 5c being a re wrapped iphone 5, and the pricing doesn''t help sway people to go with a colourful 1 year phone. That's the main issue with the 5c. If it was cheaper some people would go with it, and its a different sale this time around. Over the last few years a single storage size of the last model would be sold at a cheaper price point and people knew what they were getting. This time around non techy people would look the 5c and see a "new" phone (not knowing its basically a 5), and see it very close in price to a 5s and they'll end up thinking "well i may as well go with the 5s, its got a funky finger print scanner and nice camera".

Well people were/are buying the 4 & 4S even though they were 1 year old phones. My point is, for everyone saying the 5C is last years phone, I say so what? I'm using last years phone every day and it works perfect for me. It doesn't feel like some slow, stodgy, old phone. And are all these "new" cheaper android and windows phones really "new" with the latest and greatest tech?

What really amuses me is so many people complain about Apple's supposed planned obsolescence, but now the complaints are Apple's selling a product with 1 year old tech as new. The way I look at it is Apple has found a way to use up existing iPhone supply that they have and create a portfolio around the product at the same time. The end user cares about the user experience. As long as the device performs well and gets good battery life they're not going to care that the guts aren't the latest and greatest. And I bet in the long run Apple will sell more 5C's than they would have had they kept the 5 around.

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On the other hand, many of them see the 5S as new and the 5C as plastic.

The Galaxy S4 is plastic and has no trouble selling.