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Apple to Discontinue iPhone 5 Alongside Launch of 5S and Plastic Models?

Doing my best to not assume something about masses of people but I get the strange feeling that having the name "iPhone" cover both a cheaper version and the "pro" version would not bode well.

And I am most certainly guilty of that! So in my guilt I agree with something like iPhone Pro. Would love to see a 128gb option!

But seriously... a 4.5" - 5" screen would be fantastic.
 
This "smells" right to me.

Plus if there truly are multiple colors, that's enough an inventory challenge without having a third model in the middle.

Each of the two iPhone lines could have multiple levels of storage anyway. Plenty of consumer choice would remain--and a lineup that's easier to understand than today's.
 
sclawis300 said:
there is nothing wrong with 'however'. Although, when you put it in this sentence it doesn't make any sense, however.
Click to expand...

If you cross out the word and the meaning of the sentence hasn't changed, then it's superfluous. I wouldn't take notice of this except that it seems every new writer added here has the same habit of using passive tense verbs, dependent clauses, and sentences padded with verbiage. It seems like dullness by design.
 
MacBookPro13";17626908 said:
I think there will still be a market for the iPhone 5 for people who don't want to spend $199 on the 5S. I would rather the premium build of the 5 than a plastic iPhone every time.
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If you'd rather have a premium, non-plastic device then Apple would rather you pay full price for the premium 5S model. Offering too many models just confuses customers and makes their purchasing decision harder.
 
As some have probably already stated,

Profit Margins folks.

I will miss the steel frame of the iPhone 4 and 4S...
 
Pretty consistent with the good news of Apple Stock jump. By consistent I mean, just crazy made up stuff that will almost never realize.
 
Grolubao said:
Makes a lot of sense to me, but what are they going to do with repairs and service to the iPhone 5?
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There will still be parts and refurbished iPhone 5 units available for service/repairs. Just like Apple still keep 3GS, 4, and 4S parts in stock today.

----------
kmj2318 said:
iPhone Pro? LOL that's silly.

My prediction:

iPhone

iPhone Color
Click to expand...

iPhone

iPhone 5S
 
IJ Reilly said:
If you cross out the word and the meaning of the sentence hasn't changed, then it's superfluous. I wouldn't take notice of this except that it seems every new writer added here has the same habit of using passive tense verbs, dependent clauses, and sentences padded with verbiage. It seems like dullness by design.
Click to expand...

Cross out the word and the meaning hasn't changed, it's superfluous. I wouldn't notice this except it seems every new writer here has the habit...

You mean like this?

Anything can be nitpicked.
 
Will there be a fire sale?

I've been getting my parents previous gen iPhones for $99.

Guess those good days are over.:mad:
 
Reason077 said:
If you'd rather have a premium, non-plastic device then Apple would rather you pay full price for the premium 5S model. Offering too many models just confuses customers and makes their purchasing decision harder.
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you are forgetting that some people might be in contract and are willing to pay for an iphone 5 (full price) but not willing to pay for the newest. They may also not be willing to buy the "cheap" phone. Might mean apple loses a sale because the customer waits for the contract to run out.
 
what else can we expect from the most greedy company on earth. right decision for business, bad decision for consumers.
 
I think this is the time when they might take out the numbering system from the iPhone. No more 5s or 6 or 7 or whatever. Just the iPhone and iPhone lite. Or iPhone pro and iPhone, or whatever they will call it. They did it with the iPad, why not iPhone?
 
Johnny Vegas said:
The 5s is going to take a huge hit if the average consumer sees only two choices -- a "free" iPhone, or a $200 iPhone. I already know which one my boss will get me to replace my iPhone 4... unless I can convince him the fingerprint sensor is necessary to keep the company data safe. :rolleyes:
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you can't be sure there will be a fingerprint scanner.

AcesHigh87 said:
Going to be really annoyed if this is true. I understand the logic on this, it makes absolute perfect sense to run with just the high end and a cheaper plastic model.

However this personally annoys me because I have a rather irritating year left on my HTC contract but was willing to jump to an iPhone early when the new ones are introduced. Problem is I can't afford $200 (plus the cost to get out of my contract) for the newest iPhone and really don't want a cheap feeling plastic phone again. Even if the tech is older I'd rather a metal iPhone 5 than a plastic LC iPhone.
Click to expand...
The fact will always be that if you wanted an iPhone and you need to cancel your contract, you'll have to pay $200 for a phone as that was the cost. The purported plastic phone is your low cost alternative if it comes out. You had to have known the price of the iPhone a year ago when you jumped into that contract.


I think a low cost phone is a good move for apple.
 
i think the low-cost iphone will offer the same features as the iphone5 but with a plastic body and that's why they'll discontinue the iphone5 so that the consumers are forced to buy low-cost iphone.
 
I won't be surprised if there isn't an iPhone 5S, just the plastic iPhone in the autumn and the iPhone 6 in the winter.
 
Apple really do need to improve their off-contract value proposition if they want to increase their appeal (in Europe at least).

Off-contract prices matter to people who use prepaid, and in Europe prepaid can be really good (e.g. Giffgaff in the UK, Congstar in Germany).

Apple might not like it, but they are in an ecosystem war. They're not just competing against the latest flagship Samsung Galaxy, but all other Android phones as well. Nowadays, you can get a really good Android phone quite cheaply.

Here's what Apple's lineup looks like today:

- 8GB iPhone 4 - €400

- 16GB iPhone 4S - €579

- 16GB iPhone 5 - €679
- 32GB iPhone 5 - €789
- 64GB iPhone 5 - €899

That's simply too much money, especially for the older devices. Most of the visual effects from iOS7 won't even work on an iPhone 4. Nobody would recommend you spend your €400 on an iPhone 4 with 8GB of storage.

Now let's take a look at Amazon.de's best-selling off-contract smartphones, Amazon price (RRP):

#1 - Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini 8GB, €237 (€440)
#2 - Samsung Galaxy S4 16GB, €500 (€700)
#3 - S3 Mini 8GB again
#4 - Huawei Ascend Y300, €127
#5 - Samsung Galaxy S3 16GB, €370 (€700 - likely old figure)

Average price: €294 (€461 if you say the GS3 has a €600 RRP, which is still quite high)

In fact, Apple's highest entry is on page 3(!). That's simply shocking, but when you compare the value proposition, it's hard to disagree. Would you recommend an 8GB iPhone 4 against any of those phones? Even the €130 Huawei has a 4-inch 800x480 screen!

Just to be nice to Apple, I'm ignoring the Nexus devices because they're sold at cost. I don't expect Apple to match that, and thank God for them that not more people know about them!

Apple need to drop the 8GB model for 16GB minimum, and improve the quality of their offering at the €400 price (that should be RRP - with room for retailers like Amazon to discount it to nearer the €350 mark).

Apple have huge economies of scale - as they showed us with the iPad - and huge margins that can afford a little trim if they increase volume. You definitely get a sense here that the European market is slipping away from Apple because there's no additional value for the additional cost.

It's very similar to the narrative that Google is getting better at design faster than Apple is getting better at services. Apple may not know how to make a €400 iPhone that isn't an outdated piece of junk, but other companies are making excellent devices for those prices and even lower than that.

My proposal:

16GB iPhone 5S - €400
32GB iPhone 5S - €500

32GB iPhone 6 - €600 - €650
64GB iPhone 6 - €700 - €750
128GB iPhone 6 - €800 - €850
 
Last edited:
Makes sense

This is a classic product fork. You have a product where market research finds the purchasing public forms into two groups. One is a lower end group not using all the features and more likely to buy if at a lower price. Another group is a significant power user group requesting more features and have the money to pay for it.

Thus, you take your basic design and have one team take out the nickles and pennies out of the design. Get another group placing those same nickles and pennies into the higher end design.

I wonder if they are planning the same with the next iPod Touch release.
 
Tiger8 said:
while it sounds like a jump, in fact it actually makes sense in the longer run; no more discontinue last year model, just two lines (High and Mid) that get refreshed or redesigned every year (or 9 months, hopefully).
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This is a great point... I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple drop the "4, 4S, 5, 5S, etc) name from the iPhone and go to regular updates for the lines similar to the MBP and MBA. More frequent updates would reduce the bullwhip and pent-up demand for each release, and compare more favorably with the release cycle of HTC, Samsung, etc to the impartial potential customer.
 
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