Perhaps they should try asking consumers before indulging in such wasteful 'experiments'. Within minutes of seeing both phones launched I knew the 5c was poor value compared with the 5s (and that's saying something, because the 5s ain't cheap!) I remember it was the same when I watched the G4 Cube launched years ago. I really liked what I saw—right up until the moment Steve announced the price, and all of a sudden I knew I wouldn't be buying one. When that kind of thing is so instantly apparent, I struggle to understand how Apple decision makers weren't able to put themselves into the mind of the consumer. In this case I guess they overestimated the emotional/irrational appeal of pretty colours.
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iPhone 5s Demand Higher Than Expected, Took Time to 'Build the Mix' Customers Wanted
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Perhaps they should try asking consumers before indulging in such wasteful 'experiments'. Within minutes of seeing both phones launched I knew the 5c was poor value compared with the 5s (and that's saying something, because the 5s ain't cheap!) I remember it was the same when I watched the G4 Cube launched years ago. I really liked what I saw—right up until the moment Steve announced the price, and all of a sudden I knew I wouldn't be buying one. When that kind of thing is so instantly apparent, I struggle to understand how Apple decision makers weren't able to put themselves into the mind of the consumer. In this case I guess they overestimated the emotional/irrational appeal of pretty colours.
oh come on .....
Apple is really that dumb to think they never expected a phone with a finger print scanner to sell more ?
Sure the 5C is all its colors, but the 5S has a "Gold" version, and it has A Fingerprint scanner.
Lower price doesn't always equal goodness
Apple needs to understand that. They'd had lots of practice at this already..
Them again, its could be just marketing, which is probably true. Make us all believe it
Apple is really that dumb to think they never expected a phone with a finger print scanner to sell more ?
Sure the 5C is all its colors, but the 5S has a "Gold" version, and it has A Fingerprint scanner.
Lower price doesn't always equal goodness
Apple needs to understand that. They'd had lots of practice at this already..Them again, its could be just marketing, which is probably true. Make us all believe it
Apple should have gone 5s and 5c only this year:
5s: $199 with contract ($650 without)
5c: Free with contract ($450 without)
This way, people would have felt that they are getting last year tech for money they expect to pay for two years tech. Now, people really got a downgrade (5c is a downgrade from 5) for the same money that they would have paid for a 5 if it lived.
More importantly a 28% difference will make people pause, but a 14% difference between the 5s and 5c made it a no brainer: 5s
5s: $199 with contract ($650 without)
5c: Free with contract ($450 without)
This way, people would have felt that they are getting last year tech for money they expect to pay for two years tech. Now, people really got a downgrade (5c is a downgrade from 5) for the same money that they would have paid for a 5 if it lived.
More importantly a 28% difference will make people pause, but a 14% difference between the 5s and 5c made it a no brainer: 5s
It's possible to be too fixated on focus groups, as well. Witness GM and Microsoft. I'm sure the Pontiac Aztek did well in focus groups, and that Microsoft's surveys showed broad support for "a single OS for everything" from phones, tablets, and notebooks. But Windows 8/8.1 has struggled, and Surface's "big success" last quarter was maybe 1.5 million units, while the market virtually ignored 26 million iPads being sold.
I think the 5c was a good idea, if only to free up capacity for the 5s (saving the more limited aluminum case capacity for the more expensive phones). Maybe some darker colors in addition to the pastels would help. But I don't think the price was really that off. It was "last year's phone" at its historic price. The mistake was thinking it would sell more than "last year's phone" generally has.
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How is the 5c a downgrade from the 5? It has better LTE support, the same processor, and some camera improvements.
In the US, there is no reason to sell a phone for less than $450. At $450, those phones will be free! (on contract)
If Apple priced an iPhone under $450 they would lose money (profit)
Now that the cell companies here are starting to show actual price so people can upgrade earlier, maybe (hopefully) this will start to change. We US people here are stupid to marketing.
I ended up tossing the leather case after it does not even work with apple's own 30 pin to lightning adapter.
Same thing here. Epic fail. You make an adapter so the 30pin Connector accessories work with the new iPhone and also creat a leather case that is not compatible with the connector.
I know these kind of problems also occurred under Steves watch. They just seem to happen more often these days.
How odd. I wonder why
That's why! The silence is deafening, especially when you're embarrassed.
How odd. I wonder why
That's why! The silence is deafening, especially when you're embarrassed.
Or... They never breakdown the individual product mix.
Common sense. We have poor reception in the kitchen, plus she'd just end up dropping it in the sink anyhow.
And yet here you are, commenting on MacRumors about an iPhone article. And here am I, NOT on an Android website making comments. Funny how that works, guy who is clearly looking back!
Same thing here. Epic fail. You make an adapter so the 30pin Connector accessories work with the new iPhone and also creat a leather case that is not compatible with the connector.
I know these kind of problems also occurred under Steves watch. They just seem to happen more often these days.
The only other way was to get the way pricier adapter...
Apple should've known better. If you think a mere $100 is stopping customers from buying an iPhone, you'd be sorely mistaken. The 5C was supposed to attract new customers, it wouldn't even be considered by the existing customer base.
And yet here you are, commenting on MacRumors about an iPhone article. And here am I, NOT on an Android website making comments. Funny how that works, guy who is clearly looking back!
Got a iPad mini and a MacBook air so I think its ok for me to be here. I just wanted the best phone on the market, I already have one of the best tablets and Ultrabooks. Very happy with all three
I won't disagree that Apple probably has superior margins on the 5c when selling in the middle slot, than they would have with just continuing to sell the 5 in the middle price slot. But I am not sure who they are "fooling" -- it's not like they're describing it in anything other than very clear terms, in fact marketing its plastic-ness quite directly. And some people prefer it over the metallic 5/5s design. I owned a 5 and now a 5s, and if I could have bought a 5s in a plastic case like the 5c's, I would have opted to do that, because I think it's significantly more fun. I had a see-through plastic case on my gold 5s for a while in order to show off its gold metallic nature, but frankly it got old and I ended up putting it into a speck Pixelskin HD case anyway, which is the same case I've used for 3 or so iPhone generations now. I'd rather have had a plastic case iPhone 5s from the start, and then used one of the rubber skins Apple is selling, to do the whole two-tone thing. In fact I probably would have had several color combos, and changed it up for fun. As it is, the fact that I have a gold iPhone 5s is completely invisible.
It doesn't feel cheap. It's not as thick as the 4. Your statement is all opinion.
IMO the 5c is better than the 5. As a matter of fact the Apple store gave me an option of a 5 as my replacement and I said no...
For me though the design of the 5/5s can't be killed off soon enough... I just don't like it at all
From: http://store.apple.com/us/iphone/family/iphone/compare
iPhone 5: Depth 0.3 inches
iPhone 5c: Depth 0.35 inches
iPhone 4s: Depth 0.37 inches
The weight also definitely leans towards the 4s.
Most importantly, sales numbers show I'm not the only one who thinks so
Says who ? You ?
They sold millions of iPhone 5C nevertheless .....
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I would agree that the right price for iPhone 5C should be around 499 (here in Europe is above 600 !) but stop speaking nonsense about android phones.
I will buy a 500 iPhone 5C over any Samsung, HTC or Motorola smartphone ....
The "year old" iPhone 5C is still snappier than my son's Galaxy S4 ...
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If you really want the best you should have avoided an android device ... Opinions are opinions ....
The note 3 is just a ridiculously huge phablet in my opinion.
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Only a fandroid could see "old tech" in an iPhone 5C.
The CPU is fast, the GPU still ranks amongst the mid-high end segment, the camera is good, the battery life is decent ....
iPhone 5C is not a flagship, and it wasn't meant to be, but it still is a very good smartphone.
Did you ever actually hold an iPhone 5C ? I can't see nothing cheap on it (and I'm n iPhone 5S owner) ....
I did, and while it feels better than a galaxy, it doesn't feel like an iPhone 5/s or even 4/s to be honest.
I've owned iPhones since the iPhone 3G, and I am an iPhone 5c owner (upgraded from a 4S). I have the yellow one. A few observations
1) I think I have seen 2 or 3 of them in the wild here in NYC; iPhones seem split between the 4/4s family and the 5/5s family. I have seen people buy them at the store, so I know they are out there.
2) The iPhone 5c is too good for its own good. Technically, there is nothing about the 5c that is "cheap." iPhone 4s internals are still good enough to do 95% of what iPhone users demand. iPhone 5c internals are slightly better than the 5 (battery life). As a result, Apple can't discount it to $450 or less without impacting profit margins, something Apple has refused to really do in phones.
3) Making a "distinct" iPhone may have been a mistake. Previous iPhones were just iPhones. Making a "cheaper one" doesn't really make sense in heavily subsidized markets in the US given the Apple customer base seems to value uniformity (despite the large number of price points across products). Apple may in fact repeat this mistake if they make "two" iPhone 6s.
4) The iPhone 5c feels great in hand, but gets too slippery. After using one for five or six months, that's the only real issue
5) Apple needs to have more availability of all its phones at launch. Apple lost millions and millions in sales by not having enough iPhone 5S at launch.
6) I have a 5C, but I purchased a 5S for my mom recently. I will likely get an unlocked 5S from Apple within the next few months and sell the 5C as I want to keep the smaller form factor ahead of the 6 launch.
1) I think I have seen 2 or 3 of them in the wild here in NYC; iPhones seem split between the 4/4s family and the 5/5s family. I have seen people buy them at the store, so I know they are out there.
2) The iPhone 5c is too good for its own good. Technically, there is nothing about the 5c that is "cheap." iPhone 4s internals are still good enough to do 95% of what iPhone users demand. iPhone 5c internals are slightly better than the 5 (battery life). As a result, Apple can't discount it to $450 or less without impacting profit margins, something Apple has refused to really do in phones.
3) Making a "distinct" iPhone may have been a mistake. Previous iPhones were just iPhones. Making a "cheaper one" doesn't really make sense in heavily subsidized markets in the US given the Apple customer base seems to value uniformity (despite the large number of price points across products). Apple may in fact repeat this mistake if they make "two" iPhone 6s.
4) The iPhone 5c feels great in hand, but gets too slippery. After using one for five or six months, that's the only real issue
5) Apple needs to have more availability of all its phones at launch. Apple lost millions and millions in sales by not having enough iPhone 5S at launch.
6) I have a 5C, but I purchased a 5S for my mom recently. I will likely get an unlocked 5S from Apple within the next few months and sell the 5C as I want to keep the smaller form factor ahead of the 6 launch.