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

[its93rc]

The troll responses in this thread are going to reach ridiculous levels.



I'll field this one.

1) I enjoy the colored back of the phone. It brings a splash of color to a line of products that has been dull for so long.

2) The rounded polycarbonate back of the phone is more pleasant to look at and hold as compared to the cold, industrial looking and feeling 5s.

3) I saved $100 by going with the 5c. That money allowed me to purchase Applecare+ for my phone.

4) I'm not the shallow sort of individual that cares what other people think about the phone I use. I mean, really? Grow up, people. If you think my phone is "cheap-looking" I don't really care. Whatever makes you feel superior, man.

But you can't unlock your iPhone with your finger.
/joking

 

[paysdoufs]

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.

That's an interesting and (probably) valid point.

Still, I do think that consumers who are preparing to fork out a couple hundred €, £ or $ tend to document themselves a minimum (In that respect I disagree with many MR contributors who seem to believe that all non-MR iPhone users are somehow dumb...).

And once the potentially buyers have done their homework, they'll wonder why there's only a 100,- difference between the 5c and the 5s (be it unlocked or on contract) and figure out that the 5c is not as good a deal as Apple wants them to believe.

Especially nowadays, when you have such attractive competitors as the HTC One, Galaxy S4, Experia Z or Lumia 925 which all have a (truly) unique sales proposition of their own and are less expensive than the 5c. Maybe Apple hasn't properly factored in the intensified competition when they came up with the 5c pricing (which could be especially damaging with the targeted first time buyers)?

Plus, the colors probably really don't help.

 

[xyextra]

Copied from seekingalpha site, and data speak for themselves.

The current top wireless phones weekly sale in Taobao, the average price and sales number:
1) iphone 4s, $445, 32.4K
2) XiaoMi $175, 22.2k,
3)iPhone 5, $628, 16.7K
4)iPhone 5s $775 15.6K
5)Huawei G520 $88 14.7K
6)Lenovo A820T $78 13.4K
7)Nokia 1050 $21 10.3K
8)iPhone 5c $540 9.7k,
9)SamSung GS3 $323 9.7k
10)iPhone 4 $418 9.5K
11)Samsung GS4 $495 $8.7k

On another note, Galaxy Note 2 $418 7.8K & Galaxy Note 3 $707 3.4k

so iPhones claim 1st, 3rd, 4th, 8th &10th place, and over 80K iPhones sold on aution site taobao per week, and total sales number are much more than $100 or so xiaomi/huawei/lenovo phones.

If we look at the gray market we should see all top-end phones are lower than their official price, and Samsung phones are even lower, does it mean Samsung not selling well and need to cut production as well?

iPhone 5c sold more at higher price than GS4, is that a failure by any sense? this is also consistent with US carrier's sale number that 5c claimes 2nd & 3rd place.

iPhone 5s sold 5x at a higher price than Galaxy note 3, they are both new releases while in USA the retail price Note 3 is $100 > ip5s

iphone 4 is the same price as Note2 but sold much more.

iphone 4s claims the number 1 spot and prices much higher than GS3.

80k/week sales at taobao alone is a pretty decent number, looks like 4& 4s are the "cheapest phone" that penetrates the China market, and Chinese people prefer metal casing ip5 over 5c since it looks more like ip 5s and Chinese people like face/status better more than people here. iphone 5c is more than half of 5s sales, and it is not bad at all.

 

[smoking monkey]

The 5c is defiantly going to beat the 5s in popularity. /sarcasm

Against whose wishes?

 

[rolfbert]

Seeing that you can currently buy a new Iphone 5 for 10-15% less than a 5C I think I would never buy a 5C as it stands and i dont even have a problem with the plastic, the white one looks nice imo...

 

[CKA]

Is "gray market" just really a euphemistic term for "black market"??

AKA Apple "UN"authorized Retailers!

Not really. gray market more on selling goods from other countries (lower price than China). Just like iPhone 5S in HK is selling like 20% cheaper than China.

 

[Nicky G]

Where has all the common sense gone? The 5c is exactly the same strategy, in spirit, as what Apple has done for years -- sell the previous generation phone for $100 less than the new phone. They just did one better, by making it a little fresh and fun.

Apple has consistently done well with this strategy. A HUGE number of Apple's annual iPhone sales come from sales of brand new previous-generation units. There is EVERY reason to believe this strategy will continue to do well for them, if not help them increase share a little bit. Certainly improve margins on the middle of the line phone.

US carriers are already dropping 5c prices (subsidized) by $50. So for many people, the buy-in price for a 5c will be $50, versus $200 for 5s. That's starting to mean something for many people, no question.

And then finally is this: The 5c represents a SIGNIFICANTLY better phone in the mid-tier slot in Apple's lineup, than the 4s did in the last cycle. The 5c is SUCH A BETTER PHONE than the 4s on every single level, it should really really do well over it's (likely) 2-year lifespan. Because remember, a 5c will be free either next year (subsidized), and perhaps even before that, if the early discounting indicates anything.

Apple's strategy is super-duper sound. Although I would agree, a black 5c would do well. I just got my gold 64GB 5s today, so I'm pretty set, heheh, but I would probably do a blue or green or yellow 5c instead of black, even if black were available, and if I could have had the 5s in a plastic shell, I may well have gone for that over the 5-styled body.

 

[Nahaz]

I'm confused why so many responses in this thread keep referring to the iPhone 5c as a "cheap" phone. Apple has never said anything of the kind, nor have they marketed that way. Where are you guys getting this from?

Because Apple never made it clear from the beginning of rumours of a 5c what the "c" stood for. We all knew they were going to China and the phone was going to be in a polycarbonate body. Put these two together and people expected a cheaper phone. The media expected a cheaper phone, but Apple didn't deny or confirm what the "c" stood for until launch.

People were saying;

C is for Cheap
C is for China
C is for Colour

A classic example is the 5s. What does the "s" stand for? When the 4s was released, it came with a voice assistant called Siri, so people said the s stood for Siri. Some say the "s" means 2nd Generation of the same phone. Some say it stands for a speed bump. All can be seen as valid and true. There is even a crowd of people that make jokes that the "s" stands for SAME.

I could, in a way, say that Apple really has no-one to blame but themselves. Their products are popular and the leaks and speculation run riot with news of a new iProduct all the time. When you have various paper reports and analysts all 2nd guessing them, it's better for Apple to just come out and say, "You are all wrong."

To be honest, The iPhone 5c is a glorified iPhone 5 in a coloured shell. You could easily have bought a iPhone 5 and stuck it in a slim cover with whatever colour or design you want for less of a price. In my mind the iPhone 5c is overpriced and my guess is Apple probably thought they would sell by the bucket loads. The problem for them though is that prices outside of the USA for the phone were just too high on the 5c which made the purchase of a 5s a no brainer. If you don't like the look of the cold steel finish, then buy one of the many millions of covers that are available for you on the market. If you really want a 5c then choice is a wonderful thing

Like others have said also on here, a Black iPhone 5c would of been a good move for them.

 

[OneMike]

3) I saved $100 by going with the 5c. That money allowed me to purchase Applecare+ for my phone.

You saved but you also sacrificed. I don't think the sacrifice was worth the savings.

 

[rolfbert]

Where has all the common sense gone? The 5c is exactly the same strategy, in spirit, as what Apple has done for years -- sell the previous generation phone for $100 less than the new phone. They just did one better, by making it a little fresh and fun.

Maybe in the US, but in Europe the old phone was 200€ cheaper, while the 5c is only 100€ cheaper.

 

[TallManNY]

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

Check out how much Google is spending on advertising for Moto X as compared to what it spent on Nexus 4. I bet Nexus 5 doesn't get as much advertising dollars as Moto X.

 

[Rogifan]

You saved but you also sacrificed. I don't think the sacrifice was worth the savings.

Obviously he/she doesn't think so. Why are so many people around here so judgmental towards 5C buyers? I don't get it.

 

[TallManNY]

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?

Maybe.

They might have a larger phablet phone. But I think we will have a plastic line and a non-plastic line going forward. We might settle into two lines of phones. How about both lines get discontinued next year and we get the 6c, in plastic, and the 6s in metal. Or the 5c lives on at an even lower price ($400 or maybe even $350). Even though it would be a break from the past, I think there is a chance the 5s never gets discounted, it just gets discontinued.

But I think the big push might be toward the thumb print scanner. If that is truly a game changer and at the same time hard to duplicate, Apple might want to bring it to more than one line next year.

----------

Because Apple never made it clear from the beginning of rumours of a 5c what the "c" stood for. We all knew they were going to China and the phone was going to be in a polycarbonate body. Put these two together and people expected a cheaper phone. The media expected a cheaper phone, but Apple didn't deny or confirm what the "c" stood for until launch.

People were saying;

C is for Cheap
C is for China
C is for Colour

A classic example is the 5s. What does the "s" stand for? When the 4s was released, it came with a voice assistant called Siri, so people said the s stood for Siri. Some say the "s" means 2nd Generation of the same phone. Some say it stands for a speed bump. All can be seen as valid and true. There is even a crowd of people that make jokes that the "s" stands for SAME.

I could, in a way, say that Apple really has no-one to blame but themselves. Their products are popular and the leaks and speculation run riot with news of a new iProduct all the time. When you have various paper reports and analysts all 2nd guessing them, it's better for Apple to just come out and say, "You are all wrong."

To be honest, The iPhone 5c is a glorified iPhone 5 in a coloured shell. You could easily have bought a iPhone 5 and stuck it in a slim cover with whatever colour or design you want for less of a price. In my mind the iPhone 5c is overpriced and my guess is Apple probably thought they would sell by the bucket loads. The problem for them though is that prices outside of the USA for the phone were just too high on the 5c which made the purchase of a 5s a no brainer. If you don't like the look of the cold steel finish, then buy one of the many millions of covers that are available for you on the market. If you really want a 5c then choice is a wonderful thing

Like others have said also on here, a Black iPhone 5c would of been a good move for them.

Everyone, and Apple especially, knows the 5c is the 5 at a cheaper price with a pastil shell. I really really doubt that Apple thought it would sell much better than it actually is selling. I'm also pretty sure that it is selling very nicely as compared to how well the 4S sold after the 5 came out. And that is only reasonable phone to compare it to.

 

[OneMike]

Obviously he/she doesn't think so. Why are so many people around here so judgmental towards 5C buyers? I don't get it.

That's why I said "I" as in OneMike as in myself as in me didn't think it was worth it.

I didn't know giving an opinion and being judgmental were synonymous.

 

[neoelectronaut]

To be honest, The iPhone 5c is a glorified iPhone 5 in a coloured shell. You could easily have bought a iPhone 5 and stuck it in a slim cover with whatever colour or design you want for less of a price. In my mind the iPhone 5c is overpriced and my guess is Apple probably thought they would sell by the bucket loads. The problem for them though is that prices outside of the USA for the phone were just too high on the 5c which made the purchase of a 5s a no brainer. If you don't like the look of the cold steel finish, then buy one of the many millions of covers that are available for you on the market. If you really want a 5c then choice is a wonderful thing

But what if I prefer the colored polycarbonate to glass & stainless steel and don't care to use a case? Should I still go for an iPhone 5?

No, because that doesn't make any sense.

 

[kas23]

Nobody? Usage statistics have the 5S:5C at about 2:1. What makes you think that is bad?

For a lot of people, the closest thing people can do to even have a 5S is to go hold one at the Apple store. Many people who ordered their 5S at launch are still waiting to get them. The 5c not only had a head start for its launch, it's immediately available at any store or Apple website this minute. So, for 5S usage to be 2:1 (a number I'll have to ask you for a link) with 5c usage is an indictment that the 5c is really not selling well at all.

----------

That makes me think of: On ne saurait faire boire un âne qui n'a pas soif (You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink)...

Sorry, nothing personal ;-)
Or maybe us non-US mobile phone users are all wrong and US carriers ARE actually charities that give smartphones away for free

That's funny. That's exactly what happened.

 

[xofruitcake]

Copied from seekingalpha site, and data speak for themselves.

The current top wireless phones weekly sale in Taobao, the average price and sales number:
1) iphone 4s, $445, 32.4K
2) XiaoMi $175, 22.2k,
3)iPhone 5, $628, 16.7K
4)iPhone 5s $775 15.6K
5)Huawei G520 $88 14.7K
6)Lenovo A820T $78 13.4K
7)Nokia 1050 $21 10.3K
8)iPhone 5c $540 9.7k,
9)SamSung GS3 $323 9.7k
10)iPhone 4 $418 9.5K
11)Samsung GS4 $495 $8.7k

On another note, Galaxy Note 2 $418 7.8K & Galaxy Note 3 $707 3.4k

so iPhones claim 1st, 3rd, 4th, 8th &10th place, and over 80K iPhones sold on aution site taobao per week, and total sales number are much more than $100 or so xiaomi/huawei/lenovo phones.

If we look at the gray market we should see all top-end phones are lower than their official price, and Samsung phones are even lower, does it mean Samsung not selling well and need to cut production as well?

iPhone 5c sold more at higher price than GS4, is that a failure by any sense? this is also consistent with US carrier's sale number that 5c claimes 2nd & 3rd place.

iPhone 5s sold 5x at a higher price than Galaxy note 3, they are both new releases while in USA the retail price Note 3 is $100 > ip5s

iphone 4 is the same price as Note2 but sold much more.

iphone 4s claims the number 1 spot and prices much higher than GS3.

80k/week sales at taobao alone is a pretty decent number, looks like 4& 4s are the "cheapest phone" that penetrates the China market, and Chinese people prefer metal casing ip5 over 5c since it looks more like ip 5s and Chinese people like face/status better more than people here. iphone 5c is more than half of 5s sales, and it is not bad at all.

Where do you get all this info?? I couldn't find it in Seekingalpha site...

 

[kas23]

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.

But, they do. I've never seen a 5S commercial, but every 10th commercial I see on TV is that one where people are speaking different things into their 5c.

 

[FelixAng]

Check out how much Google is spending on advertising for Moto X as compared to what it spent on Nexus 4. I bet Nexus 5 doesn't get as much advertising dollars as Moto X.

True, but I bet the Moto X is being touted by Verizon and AT&T who use the phone to sign-up people for 2-year contracts. The Nexus 4 was a major success on Google Play, as an unlocked device.
Google is also being careful balancing its interests in its Galaxy line and its recently acquired Motorola line. Those inside Google are using Nexus phones (4, and 5----if you saw photo leaks).

Google didn't realize the Nexus 4 would be such a hit, and people are anxious for the Nexus 5 debut (largely believed to be a slightly redesigned LG G2).

Just wait and see which phone GOOGLE itself promotes.

 

[jonasdamn]

What country is that? In CH, so far they have only timidly discounted the IP5 (80 EUR)...

Lithuania

 

[ajt1995]

I don't know who in their right mind would by a 5C when it's only $100 cheaper than a 5S. Given the difference in performance/features the 5C is really poor value.

I did. The 5c's plastic seems less likely to dent than my 5 did. I like the plastic, the smoothness, the soft edges, AND I saved $100

 

[Rogifan]

That's why I said "I" as in OneMike as in myself as in me didn't think it was worth it.

I didn't know giving an opinion and being judgmental were synonymous.

I wasn't referring to just you.

 

[Nahaz]

But what if I prefer the colored polycarbonate to glass & stainless steel and don't care to use a case? Should I still go for an iPhone 5?

No, because that doesn't make any sense.

Like I said in my post, Choice is a wonderful thing....

 

[xofruitcake]

Google didn't realize the Nexus 4 would be such a hit, and people are anxious for the Nexus 5 debut (largely believed to be a slightly redesigned LG G2).

Just wait and see which phone GOOGLE itself promotes.

Google know that Nexus 4 will sell out. how can it not? Nexus 4 was sold about 1/2 the price as the LG G2 and they were slow to get additional Nexus 4. Google price the nexus line low to pull down Android devices price. Google get the state of art Android device from different manufacturers, cut the price and put it out on sales in the Google play store. What can other Android device makers do other than matching the price with their own state of the art device? At the end, Google get it's wish of populate the world with cheap Android device and each of them use the search engine from Google. Now Google can play with Motorola and Motorola can produce it's own state of the art Android device, let's see if Google will price Motorola's devices as low as previous Nexus devices (so far it is a resounding no)...

 

[xyextra]

Where do you get all this info?? I couldn't find it in Seekingalpha site...

It is a comment from the latest apple market current.

You can also check here by yourself
http://s.taobao.com/search?q=%CA%D6...iwaigou&pid=mm_14507416_2297358_8935934&unid=

It lists top sellers, average price and sales number, the conversion rate of Chinese yuan vs dollar is around 6:1, 5c already moved up one place this week,and looks like it is going to be 7th soon. Ip5s is getting closed to ip5.