This happens every time they release a low and high end product. Everyone that was clammering for a low end cost effective version don't really want the low end version, they end up going for the high end version when at the store, I suspect. The actions are different then the words.
But, I bet in other countries the C will be a hit.
Steve knew what people wanted before they knew it themselves. It worked. Dilio is right. Even Apple can make a mistake. One mistake that the will likely continue to make now that Mr Jobs is gone is to listen to techies about what techies like...while failing to understand what the vast bulk of the users will like. And remember, that vast bulk of more or less silent users is where the $$$ comes from, not from the techies.
If Apple were sensitive to that iOS7 would not look like it does. If Apple (the new Apple under Tim) understood that they would not have wasted money and time on the 5C.
I'm not sure about the whole "if Steve" argument but I do believe that there is a lot riding on the 5c. It's Tim's first real departure from product tradition and if it flops then the analysts will be shouting, "I told you so!!".
Well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has slashed his projected iPhone 5c shipments for the just-concluded September quarter by 33 percent, as price cuts for the new mid-range plastic handset continue at major U.S. retailers.
Kuo <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5c-sales-estimate-cut-2013-10">now projects</a> that Apple shipped 11.4 million iPhone 5c units in the September quarter. He also expects shipments to drop sequentially by 10 percent, to 10.4 million units, in the December quarter.
I see Kuo is doubling down on stupidity.
They're going to sell fewer units in the Christmas quarter (3 months) than they sold in half a month?
That's absolute lunacy. It's really too bad that no one keeps track of stupid predictions from analysts and docks their pay accordingly.
I played with the iPhone 5c and I hate to say the plastic feels cheap. It looks like the same material used to make those charm wrist bands when I was in elementary school.
Ehhh? so sales are bad, but it's 2nd best selling phone in ATT/Sprint and 3rd best at Verizon and T-Mobile.. Beating out all but iPhone 5S and Galaxy S 4 at Verizon/Tmo.. and it's soft?
For a phone doing poorly, it's selling awfully well.. heh.. I think we have another case of Analysts setting expectations for failure.. again..
They should have upgraded the specs to be close to the 5S. No one is going to upgrade to a 5C if it isn't any better than a 5.
The 5c isn't designed for folks to upgrade from the 5. It's for new buyers and the folks hanging onto their old ass 3GS etc because they don't need the latest and greatest.
As for the whole 'lower than expected' the question is whose expectation. Kuo, Apple, someone else. Apple likely wasn't expecting it to sell hand over fist like the 'new' one. Which is why they probably planned to cut production exactly when they allegedly are. They likely have enough sales to call the gambit a success.
And if they would get their acts together on the reseller issue they would have a lot more happy users of the 5S
I agree. If Apple really wanted to move the 5c's (which apparently they do from all the advertising they have for them) the price should have been $49 w/ contract or $499 off contract to begin with. $49 is much more in the impulse purchase range and would have garnered a lot more attention from the masses without killing Apple's margins.
Most retailers ARE selling the 5c for $50. Setting the list price at $99 and selling it at $50 also plays into the fact that people love sales especially around the holidays. The perceived value among many people (irrational as it is) is higher because they think that they are getting something which normally costs $99 for $50 rather than a $50 phone for $50.
There was nothing wrong about the 5C, just the pricing.
In any case although Kuo is the best analyst, he is saying - as already pointed out - that Apple massively overstuffed the channel with 10 million sold ( into channel ) in one week, and now only 11 million will sell into Christmas.
Thats nuts.
And Apple have a clear answer here. Replace the 4S with an 8G iPhone 5C ( even with a price increase). Nothing to worry about long term. Remember the original iPhone was overpriced.
The low sales are hardly surprising. When the 5c was announced, I wondered why anyone other than color-conscious teen girls would buy it. It's too little for too much, particularly in comparison to the powerful and handsome 5s.
If Apple sold the 5c for $350-400, unlocked with no contract required, it'd go like hotcakes to those on budgets, particularly students who later move up to Apple's top model.
As is, it's going to be an embarrassingly failure for Apple.
I know Apple has better marketing info and a know better how to plan their own launches, but...
i think it was a mistake to do a 2-phone release when the screens sizes are the same.
Maybe it wasn't a mistake but a signal. That folks claiming Apple is going to phablet the iPhone are wrong. At least for the foreseeable future. Think about it, Apple investing in a whole new case production in the current size is a risky biz for just one years use. Same with changing up the home button for the new touch id. Depending on the margins they might need several yrs to really see a return on those investments. So using then for one year and then moving on to something else might not be in the game. Despite what folks like Munster and his 'real' TV say
Particularly when you consider that with things like Skype and Facetime audio the iPad Mini can be a phablet already. Why would Apple have to make a phone that is just barely smaller than that.
Does it really matter if the price of a 5c is $50, $100, or even free? That is a tiny fraction of the total cost of ownership over a 2 year contract commitment. Depending on your carrier and plan the total cost over 2 years is likely to be around $1,700. I really don't understand why anyone would choose a 5c over a 5s with just a $100 difference since that works out to only an extra $4.16 per month over the contract for a much better phone.
I played with the iPhone 5c and I hate to say the plastic feels cheap. It looks like the same material used to make those charm wrist bands when I was in elementary school.
I would love to know what wrist bands you were wearing cause I have played with a 5c and it feels nothing like the ones from my childhood. Or cheap. In fact to me it feels far sturdier that any iPhone I've ever had. It's the first iPhone I feel, aside from the display, my ten year old brothers could not mangle within weeks
The low sales are hardly surprising. When the 5c was announced, I wondered why anyone other than color-conscious teen girls would buy it. It's too little for too much, particularly in comparison to the powerful and handsome 5s.
If Apple sold the 5c for $350-400, unlocked with no contract required, it'd go like hotcakes to those on budgets, particularly students who later move up to Apple's top model.
As is, it's going to be an embarrassingly failure for Apple.
11 million 5c phones in two weeks. Right, it's a failure.
Did the crystal ball in your parent's basement tell you that?
Lots of snarky comments here today. If I didn't know better I'd say we have some Apple hateboys posting here today. But surely that wouldn't happen on AI....
The evidence keeps coming in that 5c was a bad idea. I know it's not enough for some of you who by default give Apple all the credit, but even Apple can make mistakes, you know. It's happened in the past, and this kind of attitude to endorse anything just because Apple did it, and for Apple to think that they know best what people want without regarding those people's opinions, is what can get them in trouble. That's how BlackBerry went down, because they thought they knew what their customers wanted better than their customers.
I'm a big Apple fan, but I reserve to be critical of them, too, especially of late, after the 5c came out and after iOS7.
What evidence. We have no FACTS that the 5C isn't selling well. The only one who has sales figures Apple. Wall Street analysts are just making guesses. But guesses aren't FACT!!
Island, I agree, the numbers do look a bit fishy. So was trying to understand what he was thinking.
my guess (and this is only a guess) is that much of the sales he's counting in Sep. Qtr. is all the channel fill (because Apple would correctly count that as revenue) and that he therefore either knows or has estimated that a great deal of that inventory has not sold to customers. Therefore even with increased customer sales in Dec. Qtr., the channels will not need to fully replenish their inventory. It's theoretically possible that there would be greater customer sales in Dec. Qtr. than Sep. Qtr. but that Apple would show the reverse because of how revenue is recognized in GAAP.
And let's not forget in January the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was cutting their iPhone 5 components by half, supposedly because or weak sales. Apple stock got hammered. We know now that wasn't true. Why should we treat these stories any different?
Comments
I find it funny that you went from very decisive, "He failed. His prediction was wrong."
To indecisive, "Apple might be very happy...".
Hey I am here to amuse you lol.
Ok I'll be decisive: He is flat out wrong.
Apple will show great numbers for the 5C in the holiday quarter.
But, I bet in other countries the C will be a hit.
Steve knew what people wanted before they knew it themselves. It worked. Dilio is right. Even Apple can make a mistake. One mistake that the will likely continue to make now that Mr Jobs is gone is to listen to techies about what techies like...while failing to understand what the vast bulk of the users will like. And remember, that vast bulk of more or less silent users is where the $$$ comes from, not from the techies.
If Apple were sensitive to that iOS7 would not look like it does. If Apple (the new Apple under Tim) understood that they would not have wasted money and time on the 5C.
I'm not sure about the whole "if Steve" argument but I do believe that there is a lot riding on the 5c. It's Tim's first real departure from product tradition and if it flops then the analysts will be shouting, "I told you so!!".
I see Kuo is doubling down on stupidity.
They're going to sell fewer units in the Christmas quarter (3 months) than they sold in half a month?
That's absolute lunacy. It's really too bad that no one keeps track of stupid predictions from analysts and docks their pay accordingly.
Enlighten me please, English teacher? Or writer?
We all speculate here. Nobody knows anything.
For a phone doing poorly, it's selling awfully well.. heh.. I think we have another case of Analysts setting expectations for failure.. again..
The 5c isn't designed for folks to upgrade from the 5. It's for new buyers and the folks hanging onto their old ass 3GS etc because they don't need the latest and greatest.
As for the whole 'lower than expected' the question is whose expectation. Kuo, Apple, someone else. Apple likely wasn't expecting it to sell hand over fist like the 'new' one. Which is why they probably planned to cut production exactly when they allegedly are. They likely have enough sales to call the gambit a success.
And if they would get their acts together on the reseller issue they would have a lot more happy users of the 5S
I agree. If Apple really wanted to move the 5c's (which apparently they do from all the advertising they have for them) the price should have been $49 w/ contract or $499 off contract to begin with. $49 is much more in the impulse purchase range and would have garnered a lot more attention from the masses without killing Apple's margins.
Most retailers ARE selling the 5c for $50. Setting the list price at $99 and selling it at $50 also plays into the fact that people love sales especially around the holidays. The perceived value among many people (irrational as it is) is higher because they think that they are getting something which normally costs $99 for $50 rather than a $50 phone for $50.
There was nothing wrong about the 5C, just the pricing.
In any case although Kuo is the best analyst, he is saying - as already pointed out - that Apple massively overstuffed the channel with 10 million sold ( into channel ) in one week, and now only 11 million will sell into Christmas.
Thats nuts.
And Apple have a clear answer here. Replace the 4S with an 8G iPhone 5C ( even with a price increase). Nothing to worry about long term. Remember the original iPhone was overpriced.
If Apple sold the 5c for $350-400, unlocked with no contract required, it'd go like hotcakes to those on budgets, particularly students who later move up to Apple's top model.
As is, it's going to be an embarrassingly failure for Apple.
Maybe it wasn't a mistake but a signal. That folks claiming Apple is going to phablet the iPhone are wrong. At least for the foreseeable future. Think about it, Apple investing in a whole new case production in the current size is a risky biz for just one years use. Same with changing up the home button for the new touch id. Depending on the margins they might need several yrs to really see a return on those investments. So using then for one year and then moving on to something else might not be in the game. Despite what folks like Munster and his 'real' TV say
Particularly when you consider that with things like Skype and Facetime audio the iPad Mini can be a phablet already. Why would Apple have to make a phone that is just barely smaller than that.
Does it really matter if the price of a 5c is $50, $100, or even free? That is a tiny fraction of the total cost of ownership over a 2 year contract commitment. Depending on your carrier and plan the total cost over 2 years is likely to be around $1,700. I really don't understand why anyone would choose a 5c over a 5s with just a $100 difference since that works out to only an extra $4.16 per month over the contract for a much better phone.
I would love to know what wrist bands you were wearing cause I have played with a 5c and it feels nothing like the ones from my childhood. Or cheap. In fact to me it feels far sturdier that any iPhone I've ever had. It's the first iPhone I feel, aside from the display, my ten year old brothers could not mangle within weeks
The low sales are hardly surprising. When the 5c was announced, I wondered why anyone other than color-conscious teen girls would buy it. It's too little for too much, particularly in comparison to the powerful and handsome 5s.
If Apple sold the 5c for $350-400, unlocked with no contract required, it'd go like hotcakes to those on budgets, particularly students who later move up to Apple's top model.
As is, it's going to be an embarrassingly failure for Apple.
11 million 5c phones in two weeks. Right, it's a failure.
Did the crystal ball in your parent's basement tell you that?
Oh, wait.
Explain.
Island, I agree, the numbers do look a bit fishy. So was trying to understand what he was thinking.
my guess (and this is only a guess) is that much of the sales he's counting in Sep. Qtr. is all the channel fill (because Apple would correctly count that as revenue) and that he therefore either knows or has estimated that a great deal of that inventory has not sold to customers. Therefore even with increased customer sales in Dec. Qtr., the channels will not need to fully replenish their inventory. It's theoretically possible that there would be greater customer sales in Dec. Qtr. than Sep. Qtr. but that Apple would show the reverse because of how revenue is recognized in GAAP.
For the 5c, we should wait after Christmas and for data from China, India... before judging the success or not of this model.