iPhone 5s Reportedly Outselling iPhone 5c Two-to-One Since Launch

[petvas]

Whose expectations are you talking about? I'm pretty sure Apple is happy that more people are choosing to spend more money on the 5S.

I am not really sure about that. The first thing you see when you go to apple.com is the 5C. The only thing you see on TV is the 5C. Apple has spent much more time trying to sell the 5C.
Of course Apple is happy that people love the 5S, but I believe that they expected more from the 5C. Of course till Apple provides official numbers we can only assume...

 

[croooow]

It is funny to see people posting that the iPhone 5c is "just an iPhone 5" in some threads but in other threads people think it should be considered a "brand new phone"

 

[xyextra]

Whose expectations are you talking about? I'm pretty sure Apple is happy that more people are choosing to spend more money on the 5S.

I agree, apple's price strategy works pretty well, it makes 5s more attractive and protect 5s from being cannibalized by 5c. Then in the long run, apple has room to reduce 5c's price to attract more new buyers if needed.

 

[OC40]

No, I think it proves that Apple does need cheap. The iPhone 5C isn't.

Agree. The iPhone 5C is a surprisingly quality phone (which I have held on numerous occasions). Note: I own the 5S.

 

[Noctilux.95]

They are making higher profits from the cheaper 5C than if they had offered the 5 like previous roll outs. I'm glad this backfired.

 

[Deepshade]

A) The outright purchase price for these phones is just too high.
B) Cutting edge price for last years phone
C) Price point doesn't separate it enough from the latest and greatest
D) Think theres a common theme here

the price

You can get a windows phone with a great interface for under £100 in the Nokia 520.
Thats the phone bought and paid for. Apple needs to wake up and smell the roses.

 

[BaldiMac]

I am not really sure about that. The first thing you see when you go to apple.com is the 5C. The only thing you see on TV is the 5C. Apple has spent much more time trying to sell the 5C.
Of course Apple is happy that people love the 5S, but I believe that they expected more from the 5C. Of course till Apple provides official numbers we can only assume...

Why would Apple prefer people buy the less expensive model?

The advertising issue that you see is simply because the iPhone 5C provides a better marketing story that the 5S. Color and personality are more marketable than a fingerprint sensor. It's all about the iPhone brand, individual models aren't important.

 

[BJMRamage]

So, the 5C is selling like the 4S?
The 5C is basically the 4S for this year, that should be NO surprise.

They simply Candy-Coated last year’s phone...yes, they are calling it new but really it is similar to last year’s phone with a new skin on it.

 

[Jimrod]

One word: PRICE!

Yup, £469 unlocked in the UK ($750). Ridiculous with Nexus 5 just around the corner and the HTC One around the same price (this is as an iPhone 5 owner and have been all Apple since the 3G - the One is a very good device and has almost swayed me away with Apple seemingly treading water).

 

[Twimfy]

Well yeah, who wants a phone worse than an iPhone 5 in terms of design? it's a good marketing strategy to be honest, to drive sales of the 5S.

I did because in my opinion the design is 100 times nicer. Nicer told hold, less scary to drop and there's not a single colour of the 5S that I like.

 

[JUiCEJamie]

So will the Reuse and Recycle program still continue for iPhone?

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/reuse_and_recycle - That link is offering £220 for an iPhone 5 through Apple. So why do this?

 

[the8thark]

How is this news?

Is the Samsung Galaxy S4 outselling the Samsung Galaxy S3 by 2:1? Should be as well.

Well said. And this is about right too. If the C outsold the S then Apple would be having issues. But this is all according to plan.

 

[PaulSorensen]

You might want to read a few behavioral economics books before you write off Apple's strategy. The existence of the cheaper 5c will drive more customers to the iPhone and sell more iPhones — even if most of them are the 5s.

If Tim Cook thinks people are stupid enough to buy cheap plastic phones that are essentially past year's old product dressed in different colors, he should get his head checked.

That dude can't get anything right.

Needs to get replaced as CEO of Apple ASAP.

 

[skellener]

They still should have made a black 5C.

 

[TallManNY]

When the iPhone 5 launched the iPhone 4 was free with contract and made up 9% of sales. The iPhone 4S was 23% and the 5 lead with 68%. That seemed normal to everyone.

Now the 5S is 64%, the 5C is 27% and the 4S is 9%.

So, the real story is that a slight change to the look of the mid tier device (in the absence of change in the flagship) has resulted in a slight increase in it's sales.

People who want the free one are still taking it at the same rate, but people who don't care to pony up for top of the line are more willing to take a mid tier device that has been refreshed.

This is all very remarkable.

Those are the numbers that make me think this is all happening about as Apple expected. I think the 4S success last year might have caught Apple slightly by surprise. But one has to factor in that the 4 was one seriously nice looking piece of machinery. And also the 3.5" screen and smaller phone is actually preferred by some folks and it became a form factor increasingly hard to find as the android devices abandoned that size with any of their newest high quality phones.

I'd love to see the 3.5" form factor get supported on an ongoing basis, so that the 4S being sold this year doesn't become the last of that size. But I suspect that is wishful thinking.

 

[polterbyte]

If Tim Cook thinks people are stupid enough to buy cheap plastic phones that are essentially past year's old product dressed in different colors, he should get his head checked.

That dude can't get anything right.

Needs to get replaced as CEO of Apple ASAP.

Cool story, bro.

 

[Thunderhawks]

I did because in my opinion the design is 100 times nicer. Nicer told hold, less scary to drop and there's not a single colour of the 5S that I like.

The color of the 5C are nothing to write home about either!

 

[TallManNY]

So, the 5C is selling like the 4S?
The 5C is basically the 4S for this year, that should be NO surprise.

They simply Candy-Coated last year’s phone...yes, they are calling it new but really it is similar to last year’s phone with a new skin on it.

And last year they simply sold the prior year's phone with no changes. And it worked. Even though the 5 had both a screen change and an adapter change. I think that 4S was a great phone. The 5c is also going to be popular for a long time to come. I bet it outsells the HTC One over the course of the next three months. As well as all the Lumias and the Moto X. Heck, it might outsell all those phones combined.

 

[Count Blah]

Good, consumers aren't as stupid as Apple thinks they are.

Hopefully apple recognizes that and changes their products( stop takig away user serviceability, stop taking away functionality to make desktops thinner, stop raising prices, stop glueing everything in) around accordingly.

 

[FirstNTenderbit]

This is ridiculous. Instead of launching and supplying iphones in other countries, why isn't Apple quickly fulfilling orders from a month ago? Finish what you have before offering anything else. My phone is still not scheduled to be shipped until the beginning of November and that is asinine. This company is getting me more pissed off each and every day.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

-Spock

Sorry, couldn't resist Seriously though Apple does it because their rollout is planned. Regional shortages will be back-filled in short order. A little patience is all that's required. Plus, let's be honest... Apple knows you're not going anywhere. It's not like you'll leave the garden simply because you have to wait a bit for your flower.

 

[Twimfy]

The color of the 5C are nothing to write home about either!

I didn't say there was anything wrong with the 5S colors. I just said that I personally dont like them.

 

[joneill55]

No Sh** Sherlock??????

 

[itguy06]

You can get a windows phone with a great interface for under £100 in the Nokia 520.

That's Friggin Hilarious! Win Phone is a God Awful UI and it's dismal sales prove it. People buy it because it's cheap not because it's good.

 

[Gemütlichkeit]

I already get the feeling apple is selling too many different variations of the same product.

 

[2457282]

The analyst and the pundits all thought it would be the other way around. But the price of the C clearly has impacted the ratio. But contrary to the general mood of the comments here, I still think this is a long term good strategy.

Next year the 5c will be the free phone, they will put plastic on the 5s and make that the $99 phone (on contract) and come out with the new 6 phone. Then it will all start to make sense. I look at this as a transition year to the new model.