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Higher priced phone is more popular? More evidence pointing to why Apple does not need to make a "cheap" phone.

It's an evidence that early adopters buy the latest, more expensive gadgets. Once the mainstream starts buying new iPhones, expect to see a lot more 5c on the market.
 
Apple once had a small market share with high profit margins.

Even that wasn't a problem until margins dropped, and the company stopped being a really profitable.

And that was for a different product mix, one that was much less a status symbol back then compared to handbags, luxury autos... and now smartphones.
 
The people who buy an iPhone on Day 1 are the "shut up and take my money" crowd. They're gonna buy the 5S.

The 5C will be a steady sale, as people get new contracts.
 
Dude, it IS selling like hotcakes. Once teenagers start seeing the 5C out in the wild, it will really blow up.

That's what I thought, too. But my teen granddaughter and her pre-teen sister both want the 5s. The color options did not sway them. The one feature that intrigued them was the finger print sensor.

I also think that in more affluent areas, the initial cost of the iphone was not, nor will be, the determinating factor. Most of the cost of owning a smart phone is in the service each month. Looking at the entire cost over the two year contract, the extra $100 is not a deal breaker.
 
To the few people who thought 5C would sell well in China, here's what I've read in a Chinese forums:

"I've talked to a China Unicom employee in one of their shops. The 5s are out of stock, with the gold-coloured being the most popular. They still have 200 pcs of 5c, with all kinds of colours, but no one is buying them."

...which still show up in Apple's figures as 200 Iphones sold....
 
Even that wasn't a problem until margins dropped, and the company stopped being a really profitable.

And that was for a different product mix, one that was much less a status symbol back then compared to handbags, luxury autos... and now smartphones.

The iPhone isn't a status symbol anymore. And it has never played in the same league as luxury autos and designer handbags.
 
Being an early adopter is an expensive hobby. It also means you want the latest and greatest product. I imagine few such people would queue for the cheaper option on launch day. So it is no surprise to me that the iPhone 5s outsold the 5c.

However, what is a surprise to me is how many iPhone 5s-es were sold. It seems to be far more than anyone predicted.
 
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The people that buy on launch day are more apt to go for the latest and greatest.

The 5C is aimed at those on a contract plan or those that upgrade at a slower pace. Of course the 5S will sell more than the 5C on launch weekend.
 
The 5C is well built, but not premium, and the savings only go to Apple.

This. Apple held the profit instead of making the phone cheaper. People aren't stupid. I hope Apple soon realise this.
 
LOL. Brilliant. Sell three times as many 5S phones, but build only a third as many as the 5C. I know hindsight is 20/20, but I don't think it took an analytical genius to see, with that minuscule price difference, that the 5S was going to outsell the 5C. Just about everyone, including on these forums, predicted exactly this.

Apple wasted so much time and resources building the 5C when they could have built an even better 5S - and had more of them. Apple usually knows their customers well, but not this time - they blew it big time.

Yes, I know they sold a ton of phones and its hardly "blowing it". But they also left a lot of sales on the table from people who decided to go for it, but can't find one now. Maybe they will buy when they become available again, maybe not. But, in sales, a bird in the hand is worth two (or in this case, 3 times) in the bush.

Come on now, don't be silly. The story clearly said "The disparity in popularity between the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c is unlikely to persist over the long-term, as the iPhone 5s is more likely to be the device of choice for early adopters who made the effort to purchase the device on the launch weekend, while the lower-cost iPhone 5c will likely improve its relative performance over time as the bulk of customers who are likely to be more budget conscious purchase new phones as they become upgrade eligible."

Had the iPhone 5C outsold the 5S, it would have been looked at as a disaster. This is supposed to happen the first week, or month even. At the very least.

They made as many 5Ss as they could, given the supposed fingerprint sensor constraints. Since the two phones aren't sharing parts, or even factories(?), how many 5Cs were made was independent of how many 5Ss were made.
 
I'm going to recommend that my mom, who has a 3GS currently, upgrade to a 5c. She paid $99 for her 3GS several years ago and that's basically the top-end of what she's willing to spend for a phone up front. She doesn't care about having the latest and greatest iPhone; and the 5c is a huge step up from the 3GS.
 
It amazes me how much people don't "get" the 5c and what it represents. Saying the 5c didn't sell well because it's not cheap enough, etc, is like saying the 4s didn't sell well during the iphone 5 launch because it wasn't cheap enough.

The 5c replaces the 5.... just like the 5 one replaced the 4s. They aren't suppose to sell well during opening weekend when all the early adopters want the latest and greatest. These are going to sell well once the average consumer walks in and gets to touch one and sees how cheap on contract they are. They are going to sell like crazy in the upcoming quarters.
 
Let's see what the sales look like in the months leading up the Christmas! I'll bet the 5C is a big seller at the Holidays as kids ask Santa for their first smartphone! I wouldn't call it a failure.

If it drove more people to buy a 5S rather than a discounted 5, then it did a great job. If it sells well, but at higher margins than the 5, then it also does a great job! Win/Win for Apple!
 
The people that buy on launch day are more apt to go for the latest and greatest.

The 5C is aimed at those on a contract plan or those that upgrade at a slower pace. Of course the 5S will sell more than the 5C on launch weekend.

Why is this so hard to understand? I see so many posts saying that it is a fail by Apple. Had the 5C sold more than the 5S, I would have almost considered it a PR disaster.
 
It amazes me how much people don't "get" the 5c and what it represents. Saying the 5c didn't sell well because it's not cheap enough, etc, is like saying the 4s didn't sell well during the iphone 5 launch because it wasn't cheap enough.

The 5c replaces the 5.... just like the 5 one replaced the 4s. They aren't suppose to sell well during opening weekend when all the early adopters want the latest and greatest. These are going to sell well once the average consumer walks in and gets to touch one and sees how cheap on contract they are. They are going to sell like crazy in the upcoming quarters.

You don't understand that the 4 is still a premium phone while the 5C isn't. And the 5C still costs what the 5 would cost now.
 
I can buy a brand new automobile for $0 (plus registration fee). Does anyone doing that think they are getting it for free?

No, you can finance or lease a brand new automobile with 0 down at signing. Nobody thinks they are getting the car for free because they are never told that.

The general consumer (again, that's the key term here) does not realize they are paying for their phone over the life of the contract.
 
easy solution

The 5S is a little pricey for a new, flagship phone, but, not by that much.

The 5C, on the other hand, is very expensive compared to the similar Samsung phones that are a step down. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini, unlocked.

I have to admit that I was disappointed by the 5C pricing. I need a new phone, and, the 5S (unlocked, of course) is too expensive for me right now. But, so is the 5C.

Don't buy it. Live can be sooo easy!
 
You don't understand that the 4 is still a premium phone while the 5C isn't. And the 5C still costs what the 5 would cost now.

That's your opinion. Other indicators (internal specs, average review scores) indicate the 5C currently is a premium phone
 
Interesting figures. If accurate (which honestly, I doubt, but they may be close enough to make the argument), it means there wasn't any artificial constraining of the 5s, that was real actual demand leading it to sell out. They sold more of the 5s model than they sold of all iPhones last year's first weekend, by about two million. Of course anyone rational was already saying Apple was making as many units available to customers as possible, but it's nice to see the data back it up. I doubt we'll see many of the crazies admit they were wrong about their wild conspiracy theories, though.

Anyway, I was going to ask the FedEx guy when he dropped off my 5s this morning if today was busier or Friday was, in order to get some sense of which model was selling better. Unfortunately he had left the box by my front door and was well on his way back to the truck before I got to the door. I didn't have to sign (ordered through AT&T), so I missed my chance to ask.

In the long run, I expect the 5c to close the gap. First weekend buyers aren't 5c customers, by-and-large. The 5c sales will pick up as Apple advertises it more on TV, and kids see their friends with them. We'll see if the 5c ever overtakes the 5s, but I fully expect the c-models to beat out the high end models in the years to come, just as the iPod Mini did vs. the Classic. The 5s will sell the most in the first couple quarters, but the 5c will keep selling straight through to the next fall release.
 
So what's the point of the 5c ?

The point of the 5C is to get someone to buy it that was considering a competing device. You seem like a power user that was going to buy a 5S unless Apple sold you a device that was less profitable for Apple.
 
What savings? It is too expensive.

Parents (being one myself) who have any self respect, won't pay for their kids to have a $2,400 dollar contract for a mobile phone, regardless of the subsidized up-front cost.

All I can say is that you reap what you sow, and teaching your kids that spending that kind of money on them is financially responsible is only going to hurt them in the long run.

You can get a cell phone for $50 off-contract, and pay-go for 10-40 bucks a month depending on what you need, service-wise. Any kid with an iphone who isn't working full time and paying for phone/car/insurance themselves is learning the wrong things about life, and boy, are their parents going to be confused one day when their 35 year old son is living in the basement. Where did we go wrong, honey?
 
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