“Apple seems to have overestimated the appeal of colored plastic,” Patrick Seitz reports for Investor’s Business Daily.
“The Cupertino, Calif.-based consumer electronics maker reportedly has slashed production of its midrange iPhone 5C smartphone amid weak sales,” Seitz reports. “Chinese website C Technology on Thursday reported that Apple has cut iPhone 5C production capacity in half. It has reduced average daily production to 150,000 units from 300,000, the website reported.”
Seitz reports, “Apple’s new flagship handset, the iPhone 5S, is outselling the lower-priced 5C by 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 margins in subsidized markets, Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said in a report Oct. 3. This, despite the fact that the iPhone 5S has been in short supply. Both phones hit the market on Sept. 20.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If true — and we need more proof than a Chinese website and a handful of analysts (who are probably basing their forecasts on a Chinese website) — then iPhone 5c is accomplishing its true mission well: To upsell those who can afford it to iPhone 5s. The 5c will sell well to the more, uh, “price conscious buyers” as they exit their carrier contracts.
As MacDailyNews’ SteveJack explained the day Apple unveiled iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c:
Apple’s iPhone 5s costs $100 more than an iPhone 5c — or $4.17 per month over the life of a typical two-year contract or, in other words, a completely negligible amount if you’re actually in a financial position to be able to buy and use a smartphone.
Let’s get real: If $4.17 per month means anything at all to you, you really can’t afford a smartphone to begin with. Over a two-year contract, the difference between the two iPhones is less than 14-cents per day!
The iPhone 5s is separated from iPhone 5c in many ways: Touch ID fingerprint recognition, materials quality, the camera’s larger 8MP sensor with 1.5µ pixels, ƒ/2.2 aperture, dual LED True Tone flash, Burst mode, slo-mo video, improved video stabilization, a 64GB option, and, of course, the A7 chip with 64-bit architecture and M7 motion coprocessor.
Unless you’re allergic to aluminum and/or fine craftsmanship, there is no reason why anyone who can afford an iPhone would not buy an iPhone 5s (unless you’re buying a first iPhone for your son or daughter). Even then, if you want a brightly colored polycarbonate phone or some feeling of extra protection from drops and dings, slap a plastic case on the iPhone 5s. There, it almost weighs as much as the 5c now.The bulk of any smartphone cost is the data, not the phone.
Am I missing something or is the price difference between the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c too insignificant to ever consider opting for the 5c?
Why the hell would anyone buy an iPhone 5c instead of an iPhone 5s?
It seems to me that Apple is using the iPhone 5c as a tool to push buyers to the 5s (well, at least those buyers who can grasp a simple value equation).
Once Apple gets the customer to the websites or into the stores and the prospective buyer can see and/or hold both phones and learn that they’re only separated by a mere $100, my guess is that Apple figures they’ll have plenty of upsales occurring. Upsales that will boost Apple’s iPhone margins nicely.
Oh, BTW, Apple’s going to sell a boatload of both models (and millions of 4s units too)!
Are you listening, margin-loving Wall Street?
Related articles:
iPhone 5c price war! Walmart, Radio Shack best Best Buy with $45 iPhone 5c price – October 4, 2013
Loss leader: Best Buy drops the price of iPhone 5c to $50 – October 4, 2013
Why would anyone buy an iPhone 5c instead of an iPhone 5s? – September 10, 2013
