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iPhone 5C $549 vs 5S $649 - Makes NO SENSE

G

gagaliya

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 24, 2010
466
394
What is apple thinking?! Isnt the whole point of the 5C to be a cheaper iphone to compete in the emerging markets and mid-priced segment?

So then why is this thing priced at $549 only $100 cheaper than 5S? You lose the finger print sensor, better camera, better 64 bit processor, motion chip, the list goes on and on all to save $100?

For emerging markets and the middle tier who cant afford a $649 phone, they still cannot afford a $549 phone when the market is at $300-$400 range.

Besides who the hell will try to save $100 and lose all those additional features.

The pricing of the 5C made absolutely NO sense to me. I was expecting $400 to be the highest price point, but $549? i think tim cook has finally lost his mind.

W T F? someone explain...
 
It's simple. Apple can't make an iPhone of sufficient quality that can sell for $300-$400.
 
A lot of people don't care about specs, or features of the phone. They just want a phone that works, and is cheap.

I could name a lot of family members & friends who would upgrade from their iPhone 3G/3GS for an iPhone 5C and save the $100.
 
Hence why this phone will be no more successful in the rest-of-world's Android-dominated market than anything Apple has released thus far.

Sad day for Apple.
 
xAnthony said:
A lot of people don't care about specs, or features of the phone. They just want a phone that works, and is cheap.

I could name a lot of family members & friends who would upgrade from their iPhone 3G/3GS for an iPhone 5C and save the $100.
Click to expand...

Okay, how many people are still using a 3 or 3GS?
 
chabig said:
It's simple. Apple can't make an iPhone of sufficient quality that can sell for $300-$400.
Click to expand...
They actually probably could sell the 5C for that cheap and still make a profit (even if the profit is small), but Apple is all about big profit margins.
 
what is the point of wasting all the R&D to make the 5C then? because it is priced and targets the EXACT same set of buyers at the high end.

Why not just add a few more colors to the 5S.

The ONLY reason for 5C to exist is cheaper price, and yet it is not by any means.


Look at the ipod, the nano is significantly cheaper not to mention the smaller size also plays a role for its existence. 5C at $549 should not exist because it's pointless.
 
I think they are thinking on contract price. $99 is 50% less than $199. That's a significant difference in price for a new phone.

Retail price does suck though. For me i'll get iPhone 5S retail. 5S is not worth $549 when I can just get a used 5 for less.
 
The average consumer that walks into best buy to purchase a new phone usually doesn't give a damn about the little nitty gritty stuff. They see their friends showing off certain things, or an ad that intrigues them, and that's what they want. Little 23 year old sally walks into a store. Sees a pink phone that says "iPhone" and walks out with it for $99. She doesn't know what an A6 is let alone how it compares to an A7 or Snapdragon 600.
 
gagaliya said:
what is the point of wasting all the R&D to make the 5C then? because it is priced and targets the EXACT same set of buyers at the high end.

Why not just add a few more colors to the 5S.

The ONLY reason for 5C to exist is cheaper price, and yet it is not by any means.


Look at the ipod, the nano is significantly cheaper not to mention the smaller size also plays a role for its existence. 5C at $549 should not exist because it's pointless.
Click to expand...

It is cheaper with a contract, which is how most people get new phones so frequently.
 
How does it not make sense? Subsidized it's $100 less. Off contract it's $100 less. Apple's number one priority is to make a profit, not to sell phones at cost. Do you really think doubling flash storage really costs $100 more each step up? It's a standardized sales model.
 
The 5C will sell VERY WELL. Especially with the pre-teen/teenager market. Probably will do better than the 5S in sales.
 
GoCubsGo said:
It is cheaper with a contract, which is how most people get new phones so frequently.
Click to expand...

no, a major drive for the 5C is targeting emerging market like china, india etc..where the price of the phone is paid in full at once by the buyer. ONLY the usa offers those 2 year contract with subsidies, majority of the other countries dont.

That's the point of the 5C, so the midsegment is those fast growing markets who can afford a $300-$400 smartphone can now buy an iphone, and be locked into apple's ecosystem. Yet they completely failed to do that by pricing the 5C at $549.

Also just google some of the analyst responses, everyone in the market is scratching their heads going wtf, the immediate 2% aapl drop is a reflection of that.

It makes NO SENSE.
 
The iPhone 5C is not targeting some new lower priced market that Apple hasn't targeted before.

The iPhone 5C is a direct replacement for the iPhone 5 without all of the headache and expense of the aluminum enclosure.

It should also be very easy to scale down price in the future since they will get cheaper to make over time. Next year the 5C will probably be $450/free-on-contract, the next year it might even stick around and be $350.

Right now the 5C is about increasing margins, not about targeting a new cheaper market.
 
It's targeted for new customers, a lot of which I think will be kids where a $99 dollar price tag to them (or parents) is more justifiable than $199+.

I don't think majority of iphone buyers are crazy forum users who need the latest version and will shell out $$$ to buy off contract phones.

I know friends who have the 4 and are ok with it and I'm like WTF!? lol.
 
Dwalls90 said:
They should have at least made the 8Gb 5C for $0 instead.
Click to expand...

The whole point of making the 5C was to SELL not offer for free. Why would they unveil a new phone (even though it's a re-cased 5) and offer for free. They wouldn't.

If the 5C had LESS power or no LTE or anything less than the 5, then it would be cheaper, but they kept the 4S as the free phone. I said this so many times, despite everyone claiming the 4S was done.
 
wow, $50 more than everyones expectation.

looking at other iOS devices in pricing :

ipod touch 5th gen no camera $229
ipod touch 5th gen 32GB camera $299
ipad mini 16GB 3G $459
iphone 5C 16 GB $549
ipad retina 16GB 3G $629

even the ipad retina vs the mini the price difference is $170

to be fair, when I follow the liveblog, tim or phil never mention this as the low cost device. but as a colorful iphone. tim said this :

"In the past, when we introduced a new iPhone, we lowered the price of the old iphone."
"This year, we're not going to do that."

"This year, we're going to replace the iPhone 5."

"With not one, but two new designs."

I definitely need to see the event video.
 
Dwalls90 said:
They should have at least made the 8Gb 5C for $0 instead.
Click to expand...

Removing 8GB of flash saves Apple $5. The 5C is about maintaining margins at the $99 price point, not about selling to people who couldn't afford an iPhone before.
 
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