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

[Millah]

Oh how quickly people forget things.

Didn't Macrumors run another story last week about 5c being the number 2 highest seller on all 4 carriers just behind the 5s, and ahead of the Galaxy S4 on most carriers?

Now we are going to start speculating on Apples production ramp and sensationalizing 150k units/day as being "soft demand." Lol, people are just unbelievable at times.

 

[xofruitcake]

Release an year old phone in cheap ugly plastic


Then wonder why demand is low

heh heh, even if you take the article in face value.. a 150K a day production work out to 13.65M unit a quarter.. Apple is going to sell about 33-35M Iphone 5+4s+4 this q. 13.65M unit does not look too bad .. The target for 5c is the sales number for 4s last year not 5s.

 

[Rogifan]

No need for polling. It is obvious.

Ah, so then the 3G and 3GS were cheap too? After all they did follow the original iPhone and its "premium" aluminum back.

 

[croooow]

What's worst was that people with iPhone 5 was switching over to iPhone 5c. That had to be the dumbest move in history.

And some of the smartest people would be the ones who purchased an iPhone 5 between September 10th and 20th at the lower 5c cost. Knowing they did not need the advanced 5s features but still wanted a metal phone.

 

[cube]

Ah, so then the 3G and 3GS were cheap too? After all they did follow the original iPhone and its "premium" aluminum back.

All I remember about the 3 series is when it had a plastic back, which wouldn't be premium today.

 

[chrisbru]

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

Did you mean to say definitely?

 

[croooow]

Black is absence of color.

Technically, it is the absence of (or complete absorption) of light

And white is the absence of pigment

This is why primary colors are sometimes red, green, and blue and other times red, yellow, and blue or cyan, magenta, and yellow

The iPhone is not made of light and they are all some color (but some are not "colorful")

 

[tbrinkma]

I noticed that you did not bother to correct me. (That would be the "I" in "FYI" which would be helpful) I am not an expert on black market guns like you must be and only added it because "black market" covers more than just stolen products. I was not trying to turn this into a debate about gun control, just the difference between black and grey markets.

If someone legally buys a gun and then sells it in Chicago, I think that is "black market" because you cannot legally buy a gun in Chicago. But there are many places in the U.S. where that same action (legally buying a gun and then selling it in a place where that is legal) would be "grey market".

The 'I' part in the FYI post was that your analogy was incorrect.

Since you can't be bothered to figure out what was wrong on your own, it was the "unregistered guns" part that is incorrect, unless you add additional qualifiers which were missing from your original post. And then you doubled-down with your comment on not being able to legally buy a gun in Chicago. Perhaps you ought to actually review laws before you comment on them.

I mean, it's not like the major update to Illinois gun laws was all over the news recently or anything. /s

 

[croooow]

All I remember about the 3 series is when it had a plastic back, which wouldn't be premium today.

No 4-5 year old phone would be "premium" today no matter what it was made of.

If the iPhone was never made with glass/steel (4/4s) or unibody aluminum (5/5s) and just changed internally people would still call the 5s a premium phone.

 

[currentinterest]

Not selling well? So if a phone is introduced and sells more in 10 days than the S4 does in 30 on 2 major US carriers, and is a close second on the other two, do you think the manufacturer would be pleased? The 5C will do just fine and will be the world's #2 selling phone behind the 5S for the holiday quarter.

I was in an Apple Store for a few minutes recently and saw three people buying 5Cs. One was a guy in his 30s, the others were teens with parents in tow. The holidays will be huge, here and around the world for Apple.

 

[SwissMac2]

Well, the colours are disgusting! That would put me right off for starters. The price is a bit high, it's true, but the plastic back with curved edges would feel nice in the hand - better than cold, hard-edged metal, certainly. Having said that, my iP5 lives in an add-on case anyway, so who cares?

They could have gone for some really nice colours though, and they got cheapo colours that scream out "I have no taste" to the world. Yeuch!

 

[KPOM]

heh heh, even if you take the article in face value.. a 150K a day production work out to 13.65M unit a quarter.. Apple is going to sell about 33-35M Iphone 5+4s+4 this q. 13.65M unit does not look too bad .. The target for 5c is the sales number for 4s last year not 5s.

My guess is that Apple is/was actually hoping that the 5c this year would outsell the 4s last year. Remember that once the 5 was released, there was no more advertising for the 4s. This year, Apple is heavily promoting the 5c. Someone looking solely at ads might think that the 5c was the only new phone since there hasn't been much advertising at all for the 5s.

Anyway, we'll get a better sense once Apple releases some more figures for last quarter and its projections for the current quarter.

 

[Fission]

And some of the smartest people would be the ones who purchased an iPhone 5 between September 10th and 20th at the lower 5c cost. Knowing they did not need the advanced 5s features but still wanted a metal phone.

Or didn't want to extend contract by 2 years.

 

[iChrist]

it is unclear whether the currently alleged iPhone 5c production changes have been part of Apple's strategy all along or if they are a response to weaker than expected demand

What genius wrote this article? Unclear? Yes, Apple intentionally overestimated production so they could purposely change it later... because??

Fact: iPhone 5C looks cheap
Fact: iPhone 5C is not cheap to purchase
Fact: iPhone 5C is an EXTREMELY poor value proposition compared to the 5S

Who wants to bet we don't see an iPhone 5SC??

.

 

[kobalap]

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.

Um... how about women?

Women care about performance but that is not the only consideration. In fact, I suspect that how the phone looks is just as important a consideration to most women.

And how about people on a budget? Most people in the U.S. accept that a service plan is needed with a cell phone. If you are signing up for service, then a 5s is seemingly twice as expensive as the 5c. For many, the difference between the two might not warrant the difference in price.

You are looking at this from the perspective of someone who has a clear understanding of what the difference between a 5s and 5c means. I suspect the overwhelming majority of consumers do not know. There are really only two features that a layperson can discern to be different between the two - one has a fingerprint security feature, the other is available in a variety of "warm" colors as opposed to cold industrial metal colors.

For people who have better things to do with their lives than agonize with cell phone minutia, the 5c seems pretty much the same as the 5s except it is cheaper and is available in more colors.

 

[cube]

Technically, it is the absence of (or complete absorption) of light

And white is the absence of pigment

This is why primary colors are sometimes red, green, and blue and other times red, yellow, and blue or cyan, magenta, and yellow

The iPhone is not made of light and they are all some color (but some are not "colorful")

Light is composed of radiation in different wavelengths (colors).

Black here means it doesn't reflect light. Absence of colors, absence of light.

 

[Fission]

We'll see next year whether or not the 5c was a good idea.

 

[vsighi]

Black is absence of color.

Man, I did not know that...I need to be more careful next time when I purchase a black iPhone inside Apple store and ask for the “black, which is an absence of color" in this case he can get me the right black color....cool

 

[kobalap]

What genius wrote this article? Unclear? Yes, Apple intentionally overestimated production so they could purposely change it later... because??

Fact: iPhone 5C looks cheap
Fact: iPhone 5C is not cheap to purchase
Fact: iPhone 5C is an EXTREMELY poor value proposition compared to the 5S

Who wants to bet we don't see an iPhone 5SC??

.

You should pick up a dictionary.

 

[Fission]

Um... how about women?

Women care about performance but that is not the only consideration. In fact, I suspect that how the phone looks is just as important a consideration to most women.

And how about people on a budget? Most people in the U.S. accept that a service plan is needed with a cell phone. If you are signing up for service, then a 5s is seemingly twice as expensive as the 5c. For many, the difference between the two might not warrant the difference in price.

You are looking at this from the perspective of someone who has a clear understanding of what the difference between a 5s and 5c means. I suspect the overwhelming majority of consumers do not know. There are really only two features that a layperson can discern to be different between the two - one has a fingerprint security feature, the other is available in a variety of "warm" colors as opposed to cold industrial metal colors.

For people who have better things to do with their lives than agonize with cell phone minutia, the 5c seems pretty much the same as the 5s except it is cheaper and is available in more colors.

And it doesn't have slow mo, burst, or the holy grail FP scanner. Aside from that, yea they are pretty much the same.

 

[FelixAng]

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.

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.

RE: 4). "Not the shallow sort if individual that cares..." 3/4 of your argument is based on the back of the phone. You forgot (or didn't know!) to mention that the 5C is last year's phone in internal specs; while the 5S is the progressive phone---not because anyone gives a sheet what it looks like, but because the camera is way better, Touch ID is really nifty, the internals are outstanding (and maybe a little overboard...etc.

You're the consumer who says, Yeah, I like my melt-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hand iPhone because I get these Spring-season M&M colored shells to choose from; And, I save $100 so that I can purchase AppleCare+ (since drop-tests have proven the 5S is a stronger build than the 5C).

Enjoy your unashamed plastic candy; I like my slim steak phone.

 

[kobalap]

Black is absence of color.

Pedantic.

 

[BaldiMac]

What genius wrote this article? Unclear? Yes, Apple intentionally overestimated production so they could purposely change it later... because??

Because they see a spike in sales at launch?

Fact: iPhone 5C looks cheap
Fact: iPhone 5C is not cheap to purchase
Fact: iPhone 5C is an EXTREMELY poor value proposition compared to the 5S

Those "facts" are what we refer to as "opinions".

 

[kobalap]

And it doesn't have slow mo, burst, or the holy grail FP scanner. Aside from that, yea they are pretty much the same.

I am not saying they are the same.

I am saying that normal people might not care.

 

[Risco]

The back of the case is too damn shiny, making it slippery and prone to scratching. They should have made it a matte colour and differed the specification more from the iPhone 5. I think Apple could easily sell it cheaper, but they are scared of cannibalising iPhone 5S sales.

Oh and China is full of criminals, rip off merchants and companies who will shamelessly copy anything for a quick buck.....