Launch-Day Availability of Unlocked iPhone 5c Models Continues to Slip

[Sedrick]

Actually, I can't remember a release of any previous iPhone that
did not completely sell out by the Monday after release
This concerns me as an Apple investor. Either demand is not that great or supply is exstensive?

More likely this is the first iPhone apple has designed that isn't a bitch to manufacture, so they have plenty in the pipe line.

I bought the 32GB 5c! Why you ask? Well, I need at least 32 GB and just had a baby and need to save the money. Every $100 counts. I bought it because I'm having issues with my 4s and need to replace it (wifi grayed out issue).

This is an honest question: You can't come up with $100 for the phone, but you can afford $80-$100 a month forever? For me, it's the other way around. $100 is a drop in the bucket compared to that monthly bill.

 

[JPark]

More likely this is the first iPhone apple has designed that isn't a bitch to manufacture, so they have plenty in the pipe line.

This is an honest question: You can't come up with $100 for the phone, but you can afford $80-$100 a month forever? For me, it's the other way around. $100 is a drop in the bucket compared to that monthly bill.

Not everyone pays $80-$100/month for their smart phone. I pay $45/month for my iPhone 4(off contract). When I upgrade to the 5s, I'll be joining a family plan and paying about the same $45/month.

 

[musika]

There is no pre-order for the 5s.

Yeah, I know, sorry bout that. I meant "orders". Thanks!

 

[Eadfrith]

For all we know, the sold out phones could've been a mere quantity of 100 units or 10,000,000 units

100 units? These aren't Microsoft Zune players.

 

[Battlefield Fan]

Wow. This seems rather slow. iPhone 5c will be joining the G4 Cube and Ping soon.

 

[Klae17]

But the colored iPhone isn't the phone with all the new features. So those buying it most likely are not the ones who would get up at midnight to place an order or stand in line at a store to get it. I guess the question is why Apple felt a pre order was necessary. Unless they wanted to gauge which colors were the most popular?

Or they wanted to free up some wait times for people in line on launch day. Can you imagine all the millions of people waiting in line to buy a 5c if there was no early launch! Apple definitely got rid of a ton of wait time for us on Friday the 29yh.

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Wow. This seems rather slow. iPhone 5c will be joining the G4 Cube and Ping soon.

How do you know they aren't selling? What if supply was more than last year's rollout?

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More likely this is the first iPhone apple has designed that isn't a bitch to manufacture, so they have plenty in the pipe line.

This is an honest question: You can't come up with $100 for the phone, but you can afford $80-$100 a month forever? For me, it's the other way around. $100 is a drop in the bucket compared to that monthly bill.

The questions are... If you didn't need the features of $100 more then why get it?

If the iPhone 5 crowd isn't impressed with the iPhone 5s gimmick then the public might not be either.

The other question is... Why not pay $100 more? That way you get 32 gb! Or an iPhone 5s. Guess what? The iPhone 5c sells the iPhone 5s.

 

[run1976]

I am not sure of that...

The 5C is going to sell fine, but it's not going to fly off the shelves like the 5S. Nobody looking for the tech upgrade is going to buy it, but lots of people who aren't worried about having the "newest" device will.

It will sell just like the 4s after the release of the 5.

This isn't really a surprise is it?

The 5C is the first iPhone that does not have an edge in quality feel compared to the (mostly) plastic competition. I personally am not always keen on buying the latest and greatest. My wife and myself decided to upgrade to an iPhone 5 just last week. Why not the 5S or the 5C?

Compared to the 5S we saved 200 Dollars. We are not big gamers so the extra horse power was not needed. The battery improvement would have been nice, but we haven't had any problems getting through a day on a charge and 10 % is not a huge increase that will suddenly make the need to charge regularly vanish. So I know there are other reasons to buy the 5S and I believe it is a good value. But if you do not need the improvements, why spend extra?

Then, why not the 5C? Four reasons: Weight, No 64GB option, no white front panel and plastic back. We take a lot of pictures and videos of our little kid and also have huge music libraries, we like to carry around. So 32 GB is not gonna cut it in the long run - as we do not want to rely on the iCloud only (lost most of my bookmarks that way once). The weight is a nice advantage because we are both long distance runners and it feels just a little better to carry less weight while running. The plastic back is certainly a matter of personal taste as is the white front panel. I always had a black version so far (original, 3GS, 4S) and went with the white one this time for a change. If I needed colors I could always get a case. And as the phone is something I intend to look at daily for two years why would I even want a color that annoys me after a couple of months. My wife always had a white iPhone and wanted to stick with that (impossible in plastic cause the front panel is black).

So that is a long and pretty personal description why I did not choose the 5S or 5C. In the end I think, the 5S will sell great while the 5C will present trouble, if my wifes opinion with the preference for the white front panel is more common among women (I know several who all currently use a white iPhone because they think of it as more elegant). We will have to see. Early sales seem to be not very encouraging. All models available for launch day on all carriers in the US - three days after the start of taking in pre-orders. That does not look like Apple calculated the demand properly.

 

[Klae17]

But the colored iPhone isn't the phone with all the new features. So those buying it most likely are not the ones who would get up at midnight to place an order or stand in line at a store to get it. I guess the question is why Apple felt a pre order was necessary. Unless they wanted to gauge which colors were the most popular?

I find it funny that the media is hyping it as if Apple is releasing two brand new phones, or they really don't know that it is the 5 in a polycarbonate shell. People want new.

 

[rocknblogger]

Actually, I can't remember a release of any previous iPhone that
did not completely sell out by the Monday after release
This concerns me as an Apple investor. Either demand is not that great or supply is exstensive?

I tend to think it's the former. With all previous releases of new iPhones (the 5c is touted as a new iPhone) there were reports about how the retailers were "extremely happy" with sales before the weekend was over. So far not a single report regarding iPhone 5c sales. It is unusually quiet when it comes to that this time around.

I honestly think the average consumer will look at the two models and see the value of spending a bit more to get the 5s. If they were priced an $0 and $99 on contract and $450 and $550 off contract the 16GB would have made a lot of noise this weekend. As it stands the silence is very telling.

 

[Klae17]

The 5C is the first iPhone that does not have an edge in quality feel compared to the (mostly) plastic competition. I personally am not always keen on buying the latest and greatest. My wife and myself decided to upgrade to an iPhone 5 just last week. Why not the 5S or the 5C?

Compared to the 5S we saved 200 Dollars. We are not big gamers so the extra horse power was not needed. The battery improvement would have been nice, but we haven't had any problems getting through a day on a charge and 10 % is not a huge increase that will suddenly make the need to charge regularly vanish. So I know there are other reasons to buy the 5S and I believe it is a good value. But if you do not need the improvements, why spend extra?

Then, why not the 5C? Four reasons: Weight, No 64GB option, no white front panel and plastic back. We take a lot of pictures and videos of our little kid and also have huge music libraries, we like to carry around. So 32 GB is not gonna cut it in the long run - as we do not want to rely on the iCloud only (lost most of my bookmarks that way once). The weight is a nice advantage because we are both long distance runners and it feels just a little better to carry less weight while running. The plastic back is certainly a matter of personal taste as is the white front panel. I always had a black version so far (original, 3GS, 4S) and went with the white one this time for a change. If I needed colors I could always get a case. And as the phone is something I intend to look at daily for two years why would I even want a color that annoys me after a couple of months. My wife always had a white iPhone and wanted to stick with that (impossible in plastic cause the front panel is black).

So that is a long and pretty personal description why I did not choose the 5S or 5C. In the end I think, the 5S will sell great while the 5C will present trouble, if my wifes opinion with the preference for the white front panel is more common among women (I know several who all currently use a white iPhone because they think of it as more elegant). We will have to see. Early sales seem to be not very encouraging. All models available for launch day on all carriers in the US - three days after the start of taking in pre-orders. That does not look like Apple calculated the demand properly.

I rather them have extra supply than restrict numbers just to creat market and media hype.

 

[r3m1]

5s orders will be sold out within hours.

Lots of new fingerprints for the NSA - yay!

 

[Klae17]

Lots of new fingerprints for the NSA - yay!

Why do you say that? And why does it matter? I already have my prints on file. I'm sure they don't want anything to do with my pictures of drunk people at the bars and shih tzus and food I get at restaurants. Hell the NSA techs can read about my sex life, I like to brag and if it brings some excitement in their life, awesome.

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I tend to think it's the former. With all previous releases of new iPhones (the 5c is touted as a new iPhone) there were reports about how the retailers were "extremely happy" with sales before the weekend was over. So far not a single report regarding iPhone 5c sales. It is unusually quiet when it comes to that this time around.

I honestly think the average consumer will look at the two models and see the value of spending a bit more to get the 5s. If they were priced an $0 and $99 on contract and $450 and $550 off contract the 16GB would have made a lot of noise this weekend. As it stands the silence is very telling.

I think Apple predicted this a long time ago.

 

[musika]

Lots of new fingerprints for the NSA - yay!

That's a silly thing to say, and it makes me a bit frustrated because I know that will be the joke of the technology-afraid American people this fall. Until everybody forgets. Which always seems to happen.

Let's not make the "**** on Apple because it's fun" game escalate any more than it has to. Fingerprints are stored in a special section of the phone. Practically nothing gets access to them, and they certainly are never sent to any servers.

Plus, as Klae17 mentioned, the government already has your fingerprints. They have much more on you than your silly fingerprints.

 

[WannaGoMac]

I am really surprised the 5c is selling well. 5s is not much more especially over a 2 year contract. Oh well, most people don't look at total ownership costs of cell phones.

 

[unplugme71]

100 units? These aren't Microsoft Zune players.

Would 107 have been better? Like seriously..

 

[NickG420]

According to my friend, who is an Inventory Control Specialist at an Apple Store, the lack of pre-order for the 5S was more a logistics decision than a lack of supply one.

They did not want to logistically handle pre-orders and shipping logistics for 2 new iPhone launches at the same time. They assumed the 5c would sell more than the 5s and decided to divert that traffic from stores by having it available for pre-order. His quote about the 5s was "we will have more than enough stock"....Now he could be just blowing smoke up my ass because in the same sentence he said "No way could he hold one for me..."

So I reserved one at my local Target...First one on the list...If I do not receive an email in order to pick it up by Thursday evening then I will just order it online and wait....

I am not standing in line or camping out for any phone...That's just ridiculous...

 

[unplugme71]

I am really surprised the 5c is selling well. 5s is not much more especially over a 2 year contract. Oh well, most people don't look at total ownership costs of cell phones.

How did you determine the 5C is selling well? Apple hasn't reported any sales numbers yet.

 

[currentinterest]

The interesting comparison would be the number of 4S iPhones sold during the launch week of the 5, vs. the number of 5C iPhones sold during the launch week of the 5S. My guess is, many many more 5Cs were sold.

 

[sniffies]

Out of all colors, white is the most glorious and privileged one.

 

[toph2toast]

I love apple but have no idea why someone would buy the 5c. Especially the 32GB model when you can get a 16GB 5s for the same price. Mind boggling.

I bought the 32gb 5c over the 5s because I care more about storage space than having the latest and greatest device with a faster processor and better camera. I actually have 15+ GB of music on my phone between my iTunes library and Spotify. Next up I travel a lot, so I take lots of pictures and like to store lots of pictures locally on my phone to show people where I have been. Then I love gaming, and the good games take up lots of space. So getting a 32gb phone has never been an option, its been a requirement for me.

 

[xdhd350]

I find it funny that the media is hyping it as if Apple is releasing two brand new phones, or they really don't know that it is the 5 in a polycarbonate shell. People want new.

It's even funnier that you haven't figured out that it's not the EXACT same phone as the iPhone 5 other than the polycarbonate case. The 5c gets a few updates, albeit minor in some people's eyes. A better camera is just one of the minor updates. A better battery is another.

In that sense, the 5c is "new" because a phone EXACTY the same as a 5C has not existed until now.

 

[WMD]

Unless they wanted to gauge which colors were the most popular?

That was my thought. Apple hasn't had a high-selling device in multiple colors in a long time (the iPods don't sell very well any more). Given how often fashion trends change, I think they aren't sure they know what colors will sell, so they put it up for pre-order to find out.

It also helps that everyone waiting in line on the 20th will be looking to get the same product.

 

[TallManNY]

The interesting comparison would be the number of 4S iPhones sold during the launch week of the 5, vs. the number of 5C iPhones sold during the launch week of the 5S. My guess is, many many more 5Cs were sold.

I'm sure it will be an order of magnitude higher.

I wonder if there are a small number of techies types (like us MacRumors folks) who are buying the 5C with the plan of returning it once they can get their hands on 5S. Assuming, probably correctly, that this will be well within the 14-day free return window.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Wow people are stupid, buying a 2012 based phone with a new back. Wow.

 

[absurdamerica]

Lots of new fingerprints for the NSA - yay!

Almost every child is fingerprinted in Elementary school and has been since the 80's. If you think they need this phone to get your fingerprint you're already a lost cause.