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

gagaliya said:
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...
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Did you watch the keynote? The C is for color. Did apple ever say that it was supposed to be cheaper? Have you followed apple, what cheap product do they sell? I expected the C to cost no less than $500, anyone who follows apple would know this.
 
I agree, overpriced. I was expecting $449. For only $100 less it gives up way to much. Evidently they are hoping to sell more on the plastic constriction and the pretty colors than price alone. Price will certainly sell some but it I think they will sell more of the colors actually. Price conscious is going for free. Makes my life easier. Time to start saving my pennies for an iPhone 6.
 
contract price sounds about right, but $549 just doesn't make sense. maybe 499 or 459 then it seem more affordable.
 
This is true. It is actually meant for lower-income segments, abroad, as well as in the US. And I think you're right about pricing, which BTW, is not equivalent to $549 abroad (it's $599 here in Canada WTF?)... it's priced right out of the midrange bracket.

The AAPL drop is probably people selling after rumours, normal reaction.

I'm always scratching my head at how Americans are so price conscious for subsidized phone deals. Like people, you're ready to pay $60-120 a month, but you're stopping to consider using a crappier phone for 2+ years... to save the equivalent of one month's bill?

gagaliya said:
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.
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Apple isn't going to reveal its marketing strategy to the world. They're not going to come out and say... this is a cheap iPhone for the less developed parts of the world, where you have less money today, but we'd like to hook you, make you loyal to our brand, so that in the future, when you have more money, you continue to buy our products.

That's not how branding works for this type of product and price. You want people to think you're getting a premium experience, not a budget low-end device, and you don't want to tell people that they (or their country) is low-income.

The 5C is intended for a mid-range market, which is why... it's cheaper. It IS the low-end iPhone choice (ignoring the 4S, which is mostly attractive only on contract in the US). The problem is that it is not cheap enough.

617aircav said:
Did you watch the keynote? The C is for color. Did apple ever say that it was supposed to be cheaper? Have you followed apple, what cheap product do they sell? I expected the C to cost no less than $500, anyone who follows apple would know this.
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I was eagerly awaiting 5c pricing, and was going to buy two of them off contract. We use them as phones, some texting, check a few emails, that's it.

After today, not interested. Cannot believe how expensive the 5c is.

So I think my next phone is the Google Nexus 4, they just had a price drop, $199 off contract for a great phone. Nexus 4 is pretty popular at the moment, Google's Play Store has been totally sold out.

Really wanted an ios7 Apple phone. Oh well.
 
well time will tell who's right, lets revisit this thread in 6-12 months after the numbers come out.

People are not stupid, especially in emerging market countries when buying a smartphone is the equivalent of 1 month salary. Apple had a huge opportunity to hook those newcomers to its ecosystem and as apple themselves said after someone buys an iphone as their first apple product, it is very likely they will follow through with other hardware purchases and app purchases.

So the potential was tremendous, yet this price point killed majority of those new users. There have been numerous market research/survey conducted in china that indicate the mid segment buyers are willing to pay a premium over android upto the $400 range for an iphone, yet in apple's arrogance they just had to go above $500.

We will see...
 
Velin said:
So I think my next phone is the Google Nexus 4, they just had a price drop, $199 off contract for a great phone. Nexus 4 is pretty popular at the moment, Google's Play Store has been totally sold out.
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Fire Sale!
 
Velin said:
I was eagerly awaiting 5c pricing, and was going to buy two of them off contract. We use them as phones, some texting, check a few emails, that's it.

After today, not interested. Cannot believe how expensive the 5c is.

So I think my next phone is the Google Nexus 4, they just had a price drop, $199 off contract for a great phone. Nexus 4 is pretty popular at the moment, Google's Play Store has been totally sold out.

Really wanted an ios7 Apple phone. Oh well.
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I read the other day that the 8gb nexus 4 is out of stock and google doesn't plan on replenishing it because they are releasing their next nexus phone soon. With your needs I'd suggest taking a look at the nokia 520/521, I picked one up while my other phone is out for repairs for $120(pay as you go unit but I just threw my plan sim in it), great value for a 2013 smartphone.
 
I agree it makes no sense. Any savings is completely destroyed by the monthly phone bill over time. A WiFi only $199 iPhone makes more sense as a iPhone 5C.
 
Blatant profiteering for me.

Historically, new releases mean the previous years' model drops to a lower price point. Except this year the Alu 5 became a plastic toy 5C. Cheaper in build materials but retaining what should have been the 5 lower price. Lower operating costs for bigger margins. Pretty obvious case here.

As for emerging markets (aka China) it's too expensive to attract the 1,000RMB crowd who give Android the big market share, yet too close to the 5S price for the care-free premium buyers who simply want the top-of-the-line and the social 'face' having a gold 5S will bring. At ~3,000RMB the Xiaomi Mi3 is a far better option.

Not my opinion but that of my Chinese friends and family. This is not the iPhone to bring to 700m China Mobile subscribers.

Oh and...ahem:

https://mobile.twitter.com/nokia_uk/status/377483408043036672/photo/1?screen_name=nokia_uk

What's happened to Sir Ive?
 
couldnt have said it better myself, this is exactly how i feel. I think cook made a mistake on the pricing, hoping he can surprise us with a discount when china pricing for the 5c is announced later.

Wall Street was expecting Cook to think different. Once the unsubsidized 5C price of $549 was posted on Apple’s website, the stock sold off. After holding around $500 during the presentation, the stock dropped as low as $489.50 before recovering a bit to close at $494.64. Still, Apple shares have been gaining lately, up 25% since the beginning of July on rumors of the new iPhones and improving quarterly results.

Despite Cook’s denials, growth in sales of high-end smartphones has been slowing. In the U.S., smartphone sales rose just 14% last year and smartphones made up 70% of all phones sold.

By contrast, sales are growing more quickly in less wealthy regions of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Globally, smartphone sales increased 46% last year, and smartphones made up about 40% of all phone sales.
But the best-selling phones in emerging markets typically cost $300 or less and run Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system. The 5C isn’t the answer in those markets, at a $549 price.

“While that might not matter in North America and Europe, it matters in emerging markets, which is what everybody, including me, thought they were really going to be targeting aggressively,” Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners, said. “It just feels like they should have been more aggressive.”
The announced pricing was just for the United States, however. Cook could reduce the price of the 5C in some markets. In the most recent quarter, Apple tripled its iPhone 4 sales in India with a combination of discounts, trade-ins and installment purchase plans, though the growth came off a tiny base.
The CEO could also wait until next year, when the 5C will likely be cheaper to build, to slash the price of the new model.

The risk is that Apple tries to maintain its profit margins for too long, allowing less-expensive phones to catch up. That was exactly what happened to Apple in the personal computer market, according to the late Steve Jobs. “At the critical juncture in the late ’80s, when they should have gone for market share, they went for profits,” he said.

Cook is betting that critical juncture hasn’t been reached yet in smartphones. Apple shareholders aren’t so sure.

source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-...nts-investors-hoping-something-210342168.html
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