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

[Count Blah]

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?

it's not a failure. Apple is selling 5-10% more, year over year. But is losing the war to Android because of falling usage %. If apple continues on this path, they end up back in the 90s once sales slip. Sales of macs are slipping now because prices are going up in a crappy economy. That and Apple is also taking away functionality and user serviceability for the sake of thinness, even in desktops.

Creating disposable computers is effecting Mac sales. A failure to offer a compelling lower upper, or upper middle tier iPhone is further adding to androids growing numbers.

But hey, continuing doing the same thing, year over year, without deviation has really been the backbone of the tech industry, right?

 

[MuppetGate]

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.

Cook has already warned against trying to predict sales by reading tealeaves in the supply chain. Buuuuttt folk won't listen.

 

[iChrist]

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.

Yes. The iPhone 5C is not only a poor idea, it is blatantly taking advantage of people who are tricked into buying it. It is borderline fraud, as they call in the "new" iphone 5c, but nothing about it is new except the ugly color.

 

[TimCook]

It's too damn expensive that's why!

I keep saying it, people will fork out £90 more and get the 5S. Why on earth would anyone want a 5C?

Never underestimate the purchasing power of the lowest common denominator

 

[giantfan1224]

Really? Got a source for that?

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

Your gut tells you that? What company sells their premium product at lower margins? The 5C was introduced to increase margins at that product level (versus selling the year-old premium for $100 less) which I believe brings it more in line with the margins of the 5S but there is no way they beat the margins of the 5S. That fails marketing 101.

 

[patseguin]

I have the same response as most everyone else, duh!

However, I went in the Apple Store and the 5C doesn't feel like a bad device. Maybe the price point just needs to be lower.

 

[swissmann]

I'm not buying a 5s or a 5c but rather looking for a used 4s which I'm finding for around $200-$250. If the 5c was $100 cheaper I'd probably be buying that instead. I wonder how a price drop would change the numbers? Maybe it would cannibalize the 5s too much to be a positive thing for Apple. Maybe not?

 

[Traverse]

Perhaps consumers aren't as naive as Apple thought. The pretty colors alone were not able to persuade them!

 

[apfeljonas]

Apple's profit margin has got to be eroding with the iPhone 5c ($99 on contract). Compared to 2012 (iPhone 4S $99 on contrast back than)

Why?

Simple. If they are selling just about as many 5c vs 4s at same price points. That's a bad sign considering the millions they have been spending on advertising the 5C.

Apple didn't spend any ad money promoting the 4S model last year after the iPhone 5 was announced.

The overall strategy isn't working when factoring in advertising money spent.

Keep in mind the costs of components are constantly sinking, so when the iPhone 5 was first produced it may have cost around 200$ to produce (IHS iSuppli) but now it may only cost 120-150.

Add the plastic casing to the mix nd you can get close to 100$ in the Bill of Materials.

Another good example of a sinking Bill of Materials is the fact that the first iPhone cost around 200$ to produce when it was released, and the iPhone 5s stil does, while lots of new tech was added. Apple could probably make the first iPhone right now for 40-50 $ Bill of Materials.

 

[Nickerbocker]

Wonder how many times what is essentially the same "report" (iPhone 5S outsells 5C) will be made into a news story...

 

[giantfan1224]

Perhaps consumers aren't as naive as Apple thought. The pretty colors alone were not able to persuade them!

You are not the first person to state something like this and I, for the life of me, can't understand it. Apple is trying to trick people into buying a 5C over a 5S? Their whole goal was to sell less of the premium model and more of the less frills model? Like GM would want you to buy Cruze over the Corvette?

 

[World Citizen]

The worst part is... it's working for them.

I sure have enough with a 5C... the fingerprint does't really make it a necessary update, and most important "I would not use an 5s more/different/better/longer than I would use my 4s"

This is important. Because why would I upgrade my phone? There is nothing I would do more than I currently do. So Everything I do with my 4s.. I would also do with my 5s... Whats the functional point of me buying a 5s... ? none!

But for the sake of the argument

I was looking at the 5s as a sort of bonus update... I was impressed, and liked it... and it fits my needs.. So Why would I buy a 5s instead of the 5c. Again.. the additional features of the 5s are not really making me do more with my phone.

But then I saw the price of the 5c. I know it's not meant as a budget phone... But it is not really much cheaper than a 5s....

Conclusion... I would just buy the 5s for that little bit of more money...

 

[freediverdude]

If places like Walmart are selling the 5c for $50, does that mean Walmart + carrier are doing a $500 subsidy? That would be a big subsidy on a phone.

I think this is basically the start of the mid-tier iPhone becoming the "nano" of the iPhone line, instead of just last year's model. Transitioning it to becoming it's own model that sells for its own purposes. I do think it needs a black or grey color though.

I wonder how the new Jump!/Edge/Next plans affected sales. May have to wait for the carrier quarterly reports to hear about that.

 

[calaverasgrande]

this was the kind of problem that Apple was having with the Quadra and Performa line of computers before the 2nd Jobs era.

Who was the 5C supposed to sell to?
Who on earth find those colors appealing?

I think it may have done better as a product had it not been launched alongside the 5S.

 

[skellener]

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.

It's 2013, not 1985. It's cheap, not cheep.

 

[MacNewsFix]

I finally bumped into someone (former Blackberry fangirl, non-Apple fan) who just picked up the iPhone 5S after her 4S was stolen. I asked if she even considered the iPhone 5C. I figured, as someone seemingly very style conscious, she would have looked at the 5C for having more color options.

Her response was "no" followed by a chortle. Puzzled, I asked why, and she said, "why would I want the cheap one?" She didn't even look at the iPhone 5C, because she read they are "plastic" and, thus, convey cheap and tacky. She also thought they were free (though they are close, as Best Buy is currently selling them for $50).

Were I not up for the fact I am due an upgrade from my U.S. carrier and always hold on to my phone for two year increments, I would have no problem considering the iPhone 5C. I actually prefer the clean look of the white iPhone 5C over the iPhone 5S. Were it not for the fingerprint scanner (handy for the work I do), the M7 coprocessor (likely required for next year's iWatch), and expected resale value in two years, I would be opting for the iPhone 5C as my replacement for my iPhone 4S.

Finally, is 50% when compared to the sales of the number 1 selling phone in the U.S. that bad? Whatever the number, reports seemed to indicate it still puts the iPhone 5C in either the 2nd or 3rd most popular phone being sold by the big four U.S. carriers.

 

[Breaking Good]

I do not believe that Apple intended to sell a single iPhone 5c, but instead produced it for its retail partners and carriers so that they could eventually sell it for zero down on contract.

We are already seeing discounts on the U.S. which I believe was Apple's intent all along.

Recall that it was only six months into the iPhone 5 when Walmart started to discount it. I expect that by the holiday shopping season here in the U.S. the iPhone 5c will be $0 down on contract.

I also believe that by February we will see the release of new iPhone 5c colors like black, navy, red and gray. These colors will most likely be specific to certain carriers like some Android phones are now.

 

[yeah]

Well, yeah.

Did someone call me?

 

[Cole Slaw]

I think the 5C really ought to have been released at a lower price point.
Plus they should have offered at least a couple of more "conservative" colours, like black and grey.

 

[skellener]

Not sure why everyone is against the 5C. It's basically an iPhone 5 inside. It's a perfectly good phone. All Apple did was make it cheaper and easier to manufacture by using the plastic shell. Personally I question the color choices (but I always have since they started with the colored iMacs). But that's their decision on what to manufacture. Personally I think they should have offered a black 5C. There's nothing wrong with a plastic phone. I'm still using my 3GS. It did however come in black.

 

[MonstaMash]

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.

It was a brilliant move by Apple. They were able to increase sales of their old device, and at the same time expand their product line to 5 different colors.

 

[gnasher729]

Perhaps consumers aren't as naive as Apple thought. The pretty colors alone were not able to persuade them!

Perhaps consumers are just as naive as Apple thinks.

Consumer hears of cheap iPhone 5. Goes to the store. Looks at a 5c at a nice price. Looks at a 5s which is much much nicer for only $100 more. Buys 5s. Apple is devastated about the low 5c sales. Not.

When you sell stuff, you always want a second product that is a bit nicer and a bit more expensive. That way you sell to those who are happy to get a nicer product, but there are also people who out of principle don't want to pay top price, so you sell the cheaper item to them.

Apple doesn't care about the ratio of 5c to 5s sales. They care about the total sale, both numbers added together. And I think having the choice between two different new phones gives a greater total.

 

[Number 41]

Perhaps consumers aren't as naive as Apple thought. The pretty colors alone were not able to persuade them!

Most consumers don't care about phone specs. Most consumers couldn't tell you the first thing about the processors used, clock speeds, memory, etc. Most buy the base model of storage offered. Most choose the phone that they can get for free or the closest to free. Most people care if the phone can get them on facebook / snapchat / instagram / twttier and if it will play games.

The 5C will kill for Christmas. $100 in savings over the 5S means extra Christmas gifts for other family members.

Thinking that the sales numbers reflect an "educated consumer" is laughable.

 

[mrgulabull]

1. It's selling better than the 4s did when the 5 came out.

2. It's cheaper to produce the 5c than the 5.

So they're selling relatively more at a higher profit margin. That sounds like success to me.

 

[Glideslope]

If the 5C were cheaper it might have been different.

Yup. It's those margins again. My wife does like her 5C tremendously on a side note. I love my 5, and our oldest loves their 5S. Works well.

My wife is the target consumer for the 5C IMO. She wanted the screen resolution but had no need for an A7, M7, or Touch ID.

iPhone 4 trade in, New Green 5C, Apple Care, and a Blue Cover and tax $122.73.

But yes, the margins are too high.