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Apple to Reportedly Stop Production of iPhone 5c in 2015
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It may be that Apple wants the entire line to feature "Apple Pay" and/ or fingerprint access. That may be the reason for retiring the older models this time around
Exactly. If it doesn't have NFC, it goes next year.
But wasn't the 5 sold at the same time as the introduction of the 5c or was the 5 stopped thus the 5c to its place? In any fashion, they're going to continue to sell the 6 next year but introduce the 6s/6s+ in addition. So how will a 6c fit and what internals will it have? Seems a bit redundant to me.
Rumour has it that the -S suffix to alternate year iphones is going as well.
No need for it.
"iPhone 7" will sell more than "iPhone 6S" or "iPhone 6+S"...
And no, it doesn't mean they have to change the form factor/design if they skip the -S name. Look at the iPad Mini line to see how LITTLE they have to do to give their new product a whole new number of its own!!
No need for it.
"iPhone 7" will sell more than "iPhone 6S" or "iPhone 6+S"...
And no, it doesn't mean they have to change the form factor/design if they skip the -S name. Look at the iPad Mini line to see how LITTLE they have to do to give their new product a whole new number of its own!!
Only two? We have four iPhone 5c's in our office, which is comprised of 5 people.
Why not kill it now? I mean announcing you are going to kill it likely just killed it's sales anyway...
Your anecdote is worthless. I've seen a total of 2 iPhone 6's in the wild, and I KNOW more than 9 people with the 5C. Never mind the amount of people who I have seen with them
.But since Apple did introduce the 5C with one-year-old tech, the case will only stick around for two years:
- 2011: 4S + 4 + 3GS
- 2012: 5 + 4S + 4
- 2013: 5S + 5C + 4S
- 2014: 6 + 5S + 5C
The question is what happens next year. The most straightforward option is:
- 2015: 6s + 6 + 5S
But some people have speculated for:
- 2015: 6s + 6 + 5CS (ie, iPhone 5S specs inside a 5C shell), or
- 2015: 6s + 6 + 6C (ie, iPhone 6 specs inside a 5C and thus 4" shell, though that would require a complete redesign of the innards to fit them into a thicker but smaller case), or even
- 2015: 6s + 6(4") + 5S (ie, iPhone 6 specs inside a 5S thus 4" shell), or
- 2015: 6s + 6 + 5CS
Don't see the logic in that move. It would make more sense to update it to add Touch ID and discontinue the 5s instead otherwise they're not going to have any affordable entry level models. Alternatively they could make a 4" iPhone 6c in a range of anodised aluminium colours just like the iPod Touch.
You obviously reside in the countryside or somewhere equally rural. I see tons of 5c's in the wild here in the sf Bay Area. My wife has a white one and she loves it and yes she had the option to get a 5s but like the 5c better. My 15yr old wants to get rid of her old samsung and get the blue or green 5c right now.
Women and teens love the 5c.
I'm in Canada and I've never once seen a 5c in the wild.
I don't think they are popular at all.
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Take a look at ipad sales.
Apple might wanna rethink that strategy.
The same here in mexico, the vast minority. 5c's or the 4 series are typically what I see if I do see one.
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By that standard then the 4" phone was a flop for such a short lifespan.
Just got delivery of a new Yellow iPhone 5C 32GB! $850!
Don't care if Apple discontinues this phone! I am crazy about the color and feel! It will become even more unique and special afterwards after it is discontinue.
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You seem to be forgetting about the flagship Apple iPhone - "+"!
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"S" demotes the same case but better internals! It does not cost Apple anything to continue on with the same case but just soup up the SoC and camera. Just hoping they do a upgrade to screen resolution to 401ppi and 2GB RAM too. But Apple is very frugal on the RAM aspect so they might just do 1.256GB RAM. LOL!
Don't care if Apple discontinues this phone! I am crazy about the color and feel! It will become even more unique and special afterwards after it is discontinue.
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You seem to be forgetting about the flagship Apple iPhone - "+"!
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"S" demotes the same case but better internals! It does not cost Apple anything to continue on with the same case but just soup up the SoC and camera. Just hoping they do a upgrade to screen resolution to 401ppi and 2GB RAM too. But Apple is very frugal on the RAM aspect so they might just do 1.256GB RAM. LOL!
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The 32GB version was $649 for the 5C in September 2013 to July 2014! I hesitate to purchase this model and had to pay big time $200 more after it got discontinued. $850.00.
Why didn't they do that with the touch then?
An iPhone like this, IMO, would have sold like hot cakes...
The 'older' iOS device line up seems to be in a state of flux at the moment. It used to be that the way a device transitioned down was to go to $99 in year two with only the lowest memory config/8 GB and then to free in year three with the same config. This is now starting to change as both the 5S and iPad Air are available in 16 and 32GB configurations.
I think the 5 was a special case - had Apple simply let the 5 slip down the line like this I think they might have had a problem. The 5 only supported LTE 4G on a few bands and this might limit the number of carriers willing to take the device as they try to push their new 4G services (here in the UK, the 5 only worked on the EE and maybe three 4G networks). The rumours about the 5C being a cheap phone for the developing markets was wrong - I think 'cheap' meant 'last year's model' and I think developing markets meant 'non-US markets'. I think the decision was taken by Apple to rebrand the 5 as the 5c as a way of letting people know that it wasn't just the 5, it was something slightly newer. I'd imagine it didn't take too much resource to design and market and was a success because of it (certainly in the UK I've seen a lot of 5c models).
As for next year, I think Apple will be weighing up what to do with the 6. The easiest thing to do would be to simply keep it as is and lower the price (and possibly sell at 16/32GB configurations). If they had some faith in the c brand they could launch a plastic version. However, what might be very interesting is if the 6 became a 4" only phone next year. In other words, if you want a large screen phone get the latest (most expensive) model.
I can see the iPad mini being quietly knocked on the head after Christmas meaning that by Christmas 2015 every iPad & iPhone on sale would be 64-bit with touch-id (assuming iPad mini 2 and iPad Air are discontinued) and only the 5S without some kind of Apple-pay.
I think the 5 was a special case - had Apple simply let the 5 slip down the line like this I think they might have had a problem. The 5 only supported LTE 4G on a few bands and this might limit the number of carriers willing to take the device as they try to push their new 4G services (here in the UK, the 5 only worked on the EE and maybe three 4G networks). The rumours about the 5C being a cheap phone for the developing markets was wrong - I think 'cheap' meant 'last year's model' and I think developing markets meant 'non-US markets'. I think the decision was taken by Apple to rebrand the 5 as the 5c as a way of letting people know that it wasn't just the 5, it was something slightly newer. I'd imagine it didn't take too much resource to design and market and was a success because of it (certainly in the UK I've seen a lot of 5c models).
As for next year, I think Apple will be weighing up what to do with the 6. The easiest thing to do would be to simply keep it as is and lower the price (and possibly sell at 16/32GB configurations). If they had some faith in the c brand they could launch a plastic version. However, what might be very interesting is if the 6 became a 4" only phone next year. In other words, if you want a large screen phone get the latest (most expensive) model.
I can see the iPad mini being quietly knocked on the head after Christmas meaning that by Christmas 2015 every iPad & iPhone on sale would be 64-bit with touch-id (assuming iPad mini 2 and iPad Air are discontinued) and only the 5S without some kind of Apple-pay.
The 5C is the replacement of the 5 (with an improved camera).
Apple had problems with their slate black finish on the 5 (scuffgate and spray patterns), so they gave it a plastic housing and tried a new strategy of "playful" iPhones.
Didn't work that well, because it had 1 year old internals while only costing $/ 100 less than the 5S. It was too expensive for a premium iPhone with a "playful" feel, it should have been /$ 200 à 250 cheaper than the 5S.
For only $/ 100 less, they had two options that would have been better:
1) 5S internals in the plastic housing
or
2) just replace the slate black with space grey on the 5 when introducing the 5S
So I'm expecting this:
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- 2011: 4S + 4 + 3GS
- 2012: 5 + 4S + 4
- 2013: 5S + 5C + 4S
- 2014: 6 + 5S + 5C
- 2015: 6s/6plus+ + 6/6plus + 5S
The only thing that I find a wasted opportunity is that they didn't bring out the 6 with also a 4" form factor (it could even keep the 5/5S form factor), so they won't bring the 6S neither in that form factor although I hope/wish they do.
Having 3 phone sizes a year won't really "fragmentate" Apples iPhone line-up, especially compared to their competitors.