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Target Becomes Latest Retailer to Cut Price of iPhone 5c to $49.99

bbeagle said:
People don't want overly colorful phones WITH LAST YEAR'S TECHNOLOGY.

The iPhone 5c sales should be compared to the iPhone 4S sales after the iPhone 5 launch.
Click to expand...

You're wrong... us tech nerds don't want last year's technology. I know plenty of people... (both my sisters, my wife, my parents) who could care less about having top of the line. My wife just got the iPhone 4 last year and she loves it.

To each their own... as the going says.
 
Razeus said:
The could have at least made more masculine colors.

They could have gone with a red one. Blood red, not neon red.

Black, of course. Perhaps a gray. And should have done a navy blue.

Nothing is stopping them from adding more colors though.
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Just my opinion, but I predict that we will see carrier specific colors coming in the next six months. So chances are that you'll see a Black iPhone 5C at AT&T, but not Verizon. Sprint may get a red, but no one else. Verizon will probably get an exclusive dark blue.

I personally believe that it was Apple's strategy all along to set the list price high in order to allow authorized retailers to discount and still make a profit.

If you start off at US$0 with a 2-year contract, where do you go from there?

I think that by Black Friday here in the United States we will see the 16GB iPhone 5C free on contract.
 
bbeagle said:
People don't want overly colorful phones WITH LAST YEAR'S TECHNOLOGY.

The iPhone 5c sales should be compared to the iPhone 4S sales after the iPhone 5 launch.
Click to expand...

No, people don't want an expensive iPhone they perceive as the opposite of a status symbol.
 
The $45 5C would be a great travel phone for trips to Europe or Asia if it is unlocked.
Cheap, well made and if lost or stolen, well, it won't cost $500+ to replace.
 
Jesus Christ, Apple. Lower the price of unlocked to $450 and you have an instant hit.

The $599 price for unlocked is absurd for a mostly year-old phone.
 
everything-i said:
Well said, this is exactly how it is. The iPhone 5 spec is more than most will need and they go for the 5C because it feels better in the hand and its a bit cheaper.
Click to expand...

Better in the hand? If someone gave you a $600 piece of crystal or glass to carry around all day would YOU not have some protection around it? That's the joke about all cell phones. When it's all said and done, it's the os that matters cuz nearly everyone covers up the rest of the phone.
 
As hard as it may be for some to admit. There are people buying the 5c. My fiancée works at the Apple Store in our mall and she said that the sales ratio is not as big as one would think. Also last Saturday they had actually sold out of every 5s and 5c in the store. Compare this to last years 4s and they are selling better.

These price cuts mean nothing in regards to sales
 
As others have stated. Why they have not produced a basic black 5C is beyond me.

Although the colors may appeal to some, basic black is what most want (okay, they want unapologetically metal also). Its a dumb move for apple to produce so many colors that they need to inventory for. If a consumer wants to add color, a back protective case can add the individuality the consumer wants.

Let's hope the secondary parts market will start making black replacement housing for the 5C soon.
 
Razeus said:
These stories are just too funny. People don't want overly colorful phones, no matter what you tell me in your commercials.
Click to expand...

I'm more of a bland color guy myself, but my wife even said she wouldn't want one because she doesn't want to be stuck in one color. So she gets the white phone and changes up the color of her case.
 
Is the $49.99 on some sort of phone package? The 5c is around $800 in Australia (unlocked) from the Apple Store (depending on model). That is about $750 USD so why so cheap at retailers in the US?
 
Yeah, still seem that plenty people fall for the "subsidized" phone crap.

All happy bout getting it (nearly) free and completly ignoring that they overpay on the 2 year contract by 30$ (or more) per month....
 
The 5c needs to be much cheaper, I got the 5s because on a contract there was nearly no cost difference here between the 2 of them. And I can get a $5 case in lots of places to change the color any time.
 
Bug-Creator said:
Yeah, still seem that plenty people fall for the "subsidized" phone crap.

All happy bout getting it (nearly) free and completly ignoring that they overpay on the 2 year contract by 30$ (or more) per month....
Click to expand...

We're not falling for anything, nor are we necessarily happy. In the U.S. we don't have many options but to buy on subsidized plans. The only U.S. carrier offering lower monthly charges in exchange for a larger upfront purchase price is T-Mobile. And even they I believe are still subsidizing, just not to the same degree as the other carriers. All of this might change, some day, but the current system is deeply entrenched so it will take one carrier being successful selling unsubsidized phones and plans for the others to take notice.

----------
Lancer said:
The 5c needs to be much cheaper, I got the 5s because on a contract there was nearly no cost difference here between the 2 of them. And I can get a $5 case in lots of places to change the color any time.
Click to expand...

Since you mention this, I should say that in the U.S. at least, a buyer of a subsidized phone will pay sales tax on the full value of the phone, so the difference in cost between the 5s and 5c can be another $20-25 easily, depending on where you live.
 
@IJ Reilly

Yeah sure but the net result is the same wether you buy and 5(c/s) upfront or with contract. You'll end up with paying well above 500$ for the phone with just 100$ difference in between 5c and 5s.

In the days before the c&s became available I was considering my options:
- I needed atleast 32GB
- I'm not convinced with the 5s having "must have" features
- paying 699€ for last years tech didn't feel right either

Ended up with buying a slightly used 5 for just a bit shy of 500€, got another 32GB more storage :p
Than added a non-contract which at 9.95€/month gives me:
- 500 of either talk-minutes or messages
- "unlimited data" (will be throttled after the 1st 200MB)

At the end of every billing month I do have option to change that at the same cost to:
- 9ct/min or message
- 500MB high-speed data

Or I could just switch to a completly different plan (or even cancel it).
 
Bug-Creator said:
@IJ Reilly

Yeah sure but the net result is the same wether you buy and 5(c/s) upfront or with contract. You'll end up with paying well above 500$ for the phone with just 100$ difference in between 5c and 5s.

In the days before the c&s became available I was considering my options:
- I needed atleast 32GB
- I'm not convinced with the 5s having "must have" features
- paying 699€ for last years tech didn't feel right either

Ended up with buying a slightly used 5 for just a bit shy of 500€, got another 32GB more storage :p
Than added a non-contract which at 9.95€/month gives me:
- 500 of either talk-minutes or messages
- "unlimited data" (will be throttled after the 1st 200MB)

At the end of every billing month I do have option to change that at the same cost to:
- 9ct/min or message
- 500MB high-speed data

Or I could just switch to a completly different plan (or even cancel it).
Click to expand...

I think all you are really saying is that under a subsidized plan you should buy the most expensive phone available if you want to maximize the value of the subsidy. This is true, possibly, but you are still paying more upfront for the more expensive phone, so it's a choice. Also, in the U.S. as I pointed out, the difference is more than $100, with sales taxes being paid on the full value of the phone. So with many retailers currently offering the 5c for $49, the actual difference is now closer to $200.

How much more we are paying for the subsidy vs. outright purchase is difficult to calculate, since (if for no other reason) we can't compare the same plans with and without the subsidy. (Maybe at T-Mobile, but I haven't checked.)

As for "last year's tech," this is a consideration for only a minority of buyers (a very small one, I suspect). I've been carrying "last year's tech" in my pocket for several years in the form an iPhone 4 and don't feel diminished by it at all. At this point I am considering trading up the 5c because I happen to like it, and it will also cost less than a 5s.
 
bbeagle said:
People don't want overly colorful phones WITH LAST YEAR'S TECHNOLOGY.

The iPhone 5c sales should be compared to the iPhone 4S sales after the iPhone 5 launch.
Click to expand...

Right on.

*The shows the amount Apple saves using plastic shell:
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/BL-DGB-29655

*From Sept. 13---ahead of launch:
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887323846504579073481512155074?mg=reno64-wsj

Sept. 22---Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2013/09/22/iphone-5c-lead-times-at-24-hours-plenty-of-supply-or-weak-demand/

October 11
*APPLE CUTS PRODUCTION IN HALF, despite preparations to release of the 5C and 5S in 51 territories in the coming weeks:
-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/10372942/Apple-halves-production-of-iPhone-5c.html

-http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/iphone-5c-and-5s-come-to-the-rest-of-the-world-on-october-25-november-1/
 
My wife got a 5c (blue), upgraded from a POS Samsung Replenish she carried for over 2 years. Her first iPhone, she loves it. And the battery life (at least for her), is great. She's not the data maven I am (I upgraded to the 5s from a 4S), so she is able to get almost 2 days on a charge.

When we bought the 5c, there were shortages. We had to drive an extra 20 miles to a Target store that had them. The $79 (plus the 5% off that when using the Target card) was a sales incentive.

As for the $49.99 price, not true. Today's Target ad still lists the phone at $79.99 (and calling the store revealed the same - no new price drop).

Unless someone is seeing different at their Target store.
 
chillywilly said:
My wife got a 5c (blue), upgraded from a POS Samsung Replenish she carried for over 2 years. Her first iPhone, she loves it. And the battery life (at least for her), is great. She's not the data maven I am (I upgraded to the 5s from a 4S), so she is able to get almost 2 days on a charge.

When we bought the 5c, there were shortages. We had to drive an extra 20 miles to a Target store that had them. The $79 (plus the 5% off that when using the Target card) was a sales incentive.

As for the $49.99 price, not true. Today's Target ad still lists the phone at $79.99 (and calling the store revealed the same - no new price drop).

Unless someone is seeing different at their Target store.
Click to expand...

I just bought one and it was 49 at my target. (San Antonio)
 
Apple is very lucky to have Target and others help dispose of what appears to be a failed effort.

Despite the various myths, Apple cannot win 100% of the time. No manufacturer can.
 
chillywilly said:
Oh wow. So the ad copy must not have been changed. Although calling our local Target, they were not selling it for $49.

Thanks for the update.
Click to expand...

They said they can't advertise lower than 79. Just picked up another for my daughter at a different target and it rang up at 49. Person in front of me bought one too. I bet your store just hasn't sold one yet...
 
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