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

Jimrod said:
Make a black one and double your sales by targeting guys as well as teen girls...
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Black or grey would be a good color for teen guys.

To me, the iPhone 5c simply needs to outsell the iPhone 4S @ 16GB from last year in each quarter to be a success. Despite the iPhone 5 always outselling the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4S still managed to be the second-best selling smartphone worldwide until the launch of the GS4. iPhone 5c should be far more popular come Christmas 2013 than iPhone 4S was last Christmas. Last year parents would have simply given their kids their hand-me-down iPhone 4S. This year their kids are going to want an iPhone 5c. However, to meet that Christmas demand, Apple should have done a darker color for boys. The blue one resonates well with males in the US, but I don't see the other colors being popular with males in the US.
 
Apple is manufacturing only 5c's right now, but not 5s's. So yeah, they need to calm that down.

For every 5s produced, there are 6 times more 5c's produced.
 
Product is ok, just wrong pricing - if the product does target China at all...

In China, "face" matter a lot, if price different is only $100, very very few people would buy it in China as others would think you must be 'poor' to buy the low-end iPhone. Given this, most mainland Chinese would rather buy 5S or other brands - which at least would not cause them to loss face.

I am not sure whether Tim Cook cares about growth in the Chinese market at all, maybe he just want to keep the premium market for the time being
 
What did they expect?! That's what they get for making the "cheap" iPhone nearly $750 in China! Thank god for grey and black markets that keep businesses in check. You better innovate and cater to consumer demand, or you won't make it.
 
posthaste said:
So is this gray market smuggling the reason I still haven't received my unlocked iPhone 5S (gold, 64GB, factory unlocked)?

Because the chinese hordes are scooping them all up and flying back to China to sell at a profit?

I ordered back on Sept. 22 from the Apple Store, and, at this rate, I don't expect to receive it until November.

Next year I'll fly to Hong Kong to purchase my next phone.
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Probably wouldn't help much as they're difficult to get here too unless you buy on contract. Just by chance I managed to walk into a store (premium reseller) and buy a 64GB Space Gray last Thursday as they'd received a shipment but at the Apple Store you have to reserve online each day at 6am and so few units come online that they're gone in seconds. You also still can't order the gold one online and I've only ever seen the gold models become available for reservation in the Apple Store once and they lasted less than a minute.
 
Apple simply made a plastic phone that was about $15 less expensive to produce than an aluminum iPhone 5. So they can't offer it for $50 on contract until next year.
 
This wouldn't be a problem if they didn't treat us all like little girls that think they want bright neon colors.
 
Jimrod said:
Sorry, "Space ****** Grey", better Mr Pedantic? I don't really fancy a pastel phone as a 36 year old man, just not my thing. I don't have "Hello Kitty" pyjamas either.
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I don't consider gray and black to be the same. Maybe that's just me...
 
neoelectronaut said:
The troll responses in this thread are going to reach ridiculous levels.:rolleyes:



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.
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I had a choice and actually went up to the 5s. After comparing the 2, the $100 was a no brainer because the resell value of the 5s will stay high because of the new tech of the A7/M7 and Fingerprint scanner.

Trust me, I feel the same way about you did, was going to get the White.

But I had a feeling the 5c was not going to sell. If the 5s wasn't that much of a jump in tech, I think the 5c would actually have sold a lot better, but I think it's pretty obvious the 5c needs to drop in price off contract by $100. At that point, if the 6 is a bigger screen, I'll sell my 5s for around $500.
 
It's a rumor and we don't know if it's even remotely true. It fits the assumption that the 5c isn't selling well but only Apple really knows.

Probably too soon to judge because the 5c mostly is going to appeal to people who care less about cutting edge tech and who will simply upgrade or switch when they get to the end of their contracts.
 
neoelectronaut said:
Generally not a fan of cases. If you've got such a beautiful looking phone why would you want to wrap it in something ugly and utilitarian?
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Not all cases are ugly. Get a nice case.

The real deal is what's inside...One has a Chevy cruze ecotech engine. The other has a corvette engine. Yet the corvette engine is just $100 more.
 
Seems like deja vu. Remember this from January?

Apple Cuts Orders for iPhone Parts

Apple Inc. AAPL +0.94% has cut its component orders for the iPhone 5 because of weaker-than-expected demand, people familiar with the situation said Monday, indicating sales of the latest smartphone haven't been as strong as anticipated.

Apple's orders for iPhone 5 screens for the first quarter, for example, have dropped to roughly half of what the company had planned to order, the people said.

The Cupertino, Calif., company also cut orders for components other than screens, one of the people said. Apple notified the suppliers of the reduced order last month, the people said.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
 
Fission said:
Yet the 5s outsells the 5c 6 to 1 ;-).
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There's always going to be more 5c's than 5s because of the color variation.

The first thing you see when you go to Apple.com is the 5c. Go to iPhone.com and you see the 5c.

Apple never made that many 5s. So how it can outsell it, I don't know.
 
giantfan1224 said:
And that means what exactly?
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With every other iPhone launch I've been able to spot out who at my college has a "the new iPhone". This year, however, I haven't seen anyone with the new iPhone as of yet. It'd be rather easy to spot out a 5C

neoelectronaut said:
And the number of 5s phones you've seen in the wild?
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Not the same thing - the iPhone 5S is in short supply whereas the 5C is readily available.
 
gnasher729 said:
So you are a scalper and lost your shirt on the 5c?
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Rofl

I am not a scalper and have lost nothing. I have absolutely zero interest in the 5C as I'm quite happy with my 5S thanks. Also got no interest in scalping as I actually loathe that kind of behaviour. Unfortunately it's all too common here in HK.....

Your comment about Apple intentionally trying to hurt scalpers was ridiculous, hence my original response. Do you really think Apple gives a crap? A sale is a sale to them, whether it's to a scalper or a normal customer. Makes no difference.
 
giantfan1224 said:
I don't consider gray and black to be the same. Maybe that's just me...
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Neither are pastel kiddy colours either, they are both shades of the same thing. Either way I would prefer black OR grey over pink/yellow/green or sky blue on my expensive device. The 5S has "grown up" colour choices, the 5C childish (or "fun") ones. They WOULD sell more 5C's if they had a non-pastel option.
 
iamse7en said:
What did they expect?! That's what they get for making the "cheap" iPhone nearly $750 in China! Thank god for grey and black markets that keep businesses in check. You better innovate and cater to consumer demand, or you won't make it.
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Again, not a cheap phone.
 
mdridwan said:
I don't get why anyone would buy this cheap-looking expensive phone when the 5s is just $100 more. Seriously, if you can afford 5c then you can afford the 5s. 5s is sooo much better.
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On paper, just looking at the specs of the camera and processor, yes. But for many people (even many on MacRumors) the 5s is more than they need. Lots of people only use the phone to listen to music, text, call, email, and surf the web. Maybe they will play angry birds or use a few apps that do not require a 64 bit A7 chip.

There are people who needed a smartphone, walking into an Apple store and were pleased with the 5c (and after playing with the 5s at the next table, did not see much difference)

If I got a 5c I would have gone with white to bring me back to my first iPhone (white 3G, black face white plastic back. That phone felt super cheap compared to the 5c!)
 
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