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

[cvam1985]

But I like the 5C. I prefer the curved case to the square slab of the 4-4S-5-5S. I like the bright colours better than the faded black, tired silver or the <ugh> pale gold. I also like a plastic case that will keep it's colour and absorb some damage rather than a metal case with anodize that will scratch off. If I were going to get an iPhone it would be the 5C.

Exactly what I said!!

Until I had to go through 3 creaky-screened poorly built yellow 5c phones. I was initially upset with my decision to quit trying to find the perfect one and go with the 5s, but now I'm very satisfied with it. The red leather case is sweet.

I know not everyone has these problems with a 5c but due to my experience I won't recommend it to anyone.

 

[jmerchlinsky]

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...

Apple makes more profit on an iPhone 5S than they do on an iPhone 5C. It follows quite simply that Apple would prefer a customer to buy the 5S. The lower price point iPhones are needed to bring some customers into the store, but they're not what Apple wants you to buy. I suspect when the colors were being chosen for the 5C there was a conscious decision to try to broaden the appeal of the iPhone range to kids and the Hello Kitty crowd, but not to cannabalize the 5S with colors that most people would find attractive.

 

[giantfan1224]

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.

Ha! You read the numbers and immediately decided it meant the 5C is a failure? Getting away from your bias for a minute, how did you come to that conclusion?

 

[WestonHarvey1]

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.

Apparently a lot of people want it. Half the sales of the flagship product is no small thing.

 

[giantfan1224]

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.

I don't know what analysts you've heard but Apple in no way, shape, or form, wanted to or wants to sell more of the 5C than the 5S. Just in case it needed to be said, the 5S is the premium phone, therefore has higher margins. And Apples wants to sell a bajillion of them.

 

[JHankwitz]

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

Let's see... The $99 iPhone 5c has 4 times the computing power of the 1985 $8,500,000 Cray Supercomputer, and it's considered to not be cheep.

 

[Number 41]

Wake me when the Holiday numbers come through -- you know, when $100 savings on something MATTERS to people buying an item as a gift v. purchasing it for themselves.

People on this board are annoyingly myopic -- average consumer doesn't care about phone specs. They care about price, and whether or not it can access Facebook and play Angry Birds. The 5S is selling well because of the early-adopter push. It'll level out.

 

[CFreymarc]

This stat will flip come Black Friday.

 

[BJMRamage]

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.

Nothing wrong with Apple doing this. I am just saying that the 5C performing like the 4S in sales should be expected. My wife buys last year's phones as she doesn't need to get the latest and greatest...though she did a $99 iPhone 5 2 months ago on a deal.

I guess I was just referring to teh idea that, yes it is a "new" phone but not really new.

 

[JayCee842]

The iPhone 5S seems to be a status symbol to customers. Why would they go with a plastic phone when they can have the best for an extra bill? Apple did good.

 

[jamesryanbell]

If you're going to upgrade, get the best one.

 

[JHankwitz]

I don't know what analysts you've heard but Apple in no way, shape, or form, wanted to or wants to sell more of the 5C than the 5S. Just in case it needed to be said, the 5S is the premium phone, therefore has higher margins. And Apples wants to sell a bajillion of them.

Very true, but they misjudged what the sales were going to be for the 5c and have had to focus 100% of their marketing on it. In addition, they've had to cut production, which will impact the cost and profit of each unit.

 

[dannyyankou]

So that means if Apple sells 30 million 5s's, they'll sell about 15 million 5c's. Not bad.

 

[franswa za]

i must confess i have not read through most of the previous comments

i'm sure that we are all surprised by these figures, apple probably most of all, having prepped more iphone 5Cs initially

this just goes to endorse tim cook's quote "we are not in the junk business"

not that the 5C is junk, currently more people want the premium model

according to some tech blogs the china mobile deal is just about done, this might upset the scale somewhat

tim cook and team are doing excellent jobs

 

[7709876]

Apple makes more profit on an iPhone 5S than they do on an iPhone 5C.

Really? Got a source for that?

My gut tells me the profit on a 5C is going to be higher.

 

[gatearray]

Is anyone surprised? I know I was claiming it to be a flop. If it's not selling better than the iPhone 4S at this time last year then why bother making a whole new device instead of just demoting the iPhone 5?

Oh Apple. Either you're losing your way or you've created another device to join the G4 Cube, ping, and many other failed apple devices.

To answer your question, because it's much easier and predictable to manufacture than the aluminum iPhone 5.

And it's actually selling about the same as the 4S last year, except with the new shell Apple benefits from a faster, cheaper, and more reliable manufacturing process. Decisions like this are made all the time when you're running a for-profit business.

Very true, but they misjudged what the sales were going to be for the 5c and have had to focus 100% of their marketing on it. In addition, they've had to cut production, which will impact the cost and profit of each unit.

Why do you assume anyone "misjudged" anything?

The iPhone 5s doesn't need any marketing to sell every last one of them they make, and they have plenty of 5c to go around. Why advertise a product on TV that's largely unavailable for purchase? Not to mention that a colorful ad gets people into the store, where they are free to buy the 5s instead if they like.

 

[HenryDJP]

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.

You do realize that most people buying cell phones think they are buying cutting edge when it's brand new? Only geeks and techies know if the specs are the latest and greatest or not and they represent a small fraction of Apple's customer base And also people are out to save a buck even if it's by the penny. iPhone 5C is $100 less than 5S. People like colorful tech toys, nothing wrong with that and let me guess, you've never even touched the 5C have you? If so you wouldn't be commenting much on the plastic. It's extremely solid and feels very sturdy and easy to grip, unlike the GS3/4.

That being said, most people are used to buying the top of the line when buying Apple so it makes sense that the 5S is outselling the 5C.

 

[aneftp]

What makes you think that they are spending significantly more advertising money this year?

I hope you are kidding. I read print magazines. Ads are plastered all over. Same when TV commercials for iPhone 5c.

You never or rarely saw $99 on new contract ads for one year old iPhones like what apple is doing for the 5C this year.

 

[carlgo]

This lineup was devised to be symbiotic, one line helping the the other and with more total units sold than would have happened with just one phone of any sort.

Apple execs must have had a lot of discussion over the pricing of the c. That price may move in the future, especially in the so-called emerging markets.

 

[cmichaelb]

However, a report from last week stated that the iPhone 5c finished second in sales over the month of September at US carriers AT&T and Sprint, and finished within the top three in sales at all four major carriers, which suggests that the lower-cost iPhone is at least selling fairly well.

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.

Where does it say the 5C is not selling? They are offering more choices and will end up selling more phones overall.

 

[Small White Car]

Half the Macrumors posters: "This proves the 5C is great!"
Other half: "This proves Tim Cook is an idiot!"


sigh

 

[giantfan1224]

Very true, but they misjudged what the sales were going to be for the 5c and have had to focus 100% of their marketing on it. In addition, they've had to cut production, which will impact the cost and profit of each unit.

How do you gather that they misjudged sales? How do you know they didn't anticipate cutting production anyway? Maybe the plan was always to cut 5C production in half after 4 weeks to retool those lines for iPad production. The fact is, we have no idea what Apple anticipated. All we do know is that 5C sales are slightly better (percentage wise) than 4S sales from last year and that Apple sold more combined 5C/5S in the opening weekend to cause them to revise their quarterly guidance.

 

[maxwelltech]

Well, not surprising. I've seen most people walk in an Apple Store and walk out with a 5S. Barely seen anyone who walks out with the 5C.

 

[MuppetGate]

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...

That has nothing to do with wanting the cheaper phone to outsell the more expensive phone (which, in all honesty, would be pretty dumb); this is Apple laying the marketing ground in the run-up to Christmas. In the UK, the Christmas ads start in late August (and get earlier each year).

Here's thing that many folk here don't seem to realise: Apple does not segment consumer markets by affluence, simply because there's very little to be made selling to folk who don't have much money. Sad, but true.

They segment the consumer market by age and lifestyle, and the 5s/5c is a perfect example of this.

The 5s -> Folk who can afford it.
The 5c -> Kids sired by folk who can afford it.

As we approach Christmas, the sales ratio will shift towards the 5c, as the early adopters tail off and the kids all start screaming for an iPhone.

A hundred dollars cheaper doesn't make enough of a difference? It makes a hell of a difference if you three kids and they all want an iPhone.

 

[giantfan1224]

I hope you are kidding. I read print magazines. Ads are plastered all over. Same when TV commercials for iPhone 5c.

You never or rarely saw $99 on new contract ads for one year old iPhones like what apple is doing for the 5C this year.

The point is, how do you know they are spending more in marketing OVERALL? We have no idea if marketing costs have gone up over what Apple normally does. Also, it makes a lot of sense to market the 5C to attract new customers since Apple knows its customers are very loyal (which is why the 5S sells itself).