The iPhone 5c has been completely misunderstood. It was created because Apple wanted more of its phones to work on China Mobile. The iPhone 5 would not work on China Mobile. The iPhone 5c had new colors and plastics but the important change was the RADIO.
The iPhone 5c has always been completely about China Mobile. By the end of this year, all current Apple iPhones will work on China Mobile. That alone was the reason for the 5c.
The narrative in Sweden has also been for quite a while that the 5c is a "flop". But whenever sales charts are actually released by the operators it turns out that the 5c is almost always the best selling phone after the 5s and maybe some Galaxy variant (usually the cheaper ones like the S3 or Ace or something). It usually beats for example the Galaxy S4. And after that there is usually a raft of Sony phones and even cheaper Galaxys.
Curiously, no one here is calling the S4 a flop for some reason!
Generally, Apple does best in countries with heavy subsidies.
When people have to buy their phone, the iPhone does not sell nearly as well, because people are too cheap to actually buy one, so they get some sort of cheap Android phone.
How do you explain the US market where android and ios phones cost the same subsidized?
I would reply that generally, Apple does best in countries with heavy subsidies, and that is a factor in iPhones selling so well in the American market.
I hate these articles which claim that the 5C is a flop. Apple has sold zillions of them. They sell better than any phone on the planet save the 5S. If that's a flop, these "journalists" better learn to be fair!
yeah. if ANY other company sold it, including Samsung, it would be a "runaway success and Apple should be shaking in their boots"
The iPhone 5C has sold WAAAAYYYYY better than the iPhone 5 would have sold in its places for the last year. Apple's successes with selling "last year's phone at reduced price" was actually lining up to slip during the last refresh, as the 5S was going to create a massive gap between 5 & 5S.
The only thing that saved the $99 category was Apple redesigning the 5 product into the 5C, and making it more attractive than just last year's phone.
I don't think the 5 would have sold less than the 5C. Not that this would necessarily be a good thing as it lowers the average selling price but some people see the price first. When you compare the 5 and 5S, the impression people will get is that the 5S has a fingerprint sensor but the 5 is for the most part the same visually. With the 5C, they are getting a visually inferior phone - colored luminous plastic is not visually more appealing than silver, black/grey or gold metal and is why they make jewellery out of the latter and not the former. Not everyone sees phones this way but they are fashion accessories to a lot of people like watches. If you had a nice outfit on, would you want to pull a bright green plastic phone out of your pocket or a classy black metal phone? The white plastic isn't bad but still not as nice as the silver metal.
Some people do like to have colorful phones, some people like custard yellow cars, pink running outfits, leopard print bed sheets, kids are ok with colorful objects too but that demographic for a premium phone isn't large especially when the much nicer model is $100 more. The biggest danger is driving people away from a $550 iPhone ($99 contract price point) to a $450-550 Android phone ($0-99 contract price point) under the impression that the iPhone is no longer using premium components at their preferred price point. The 4S still did. Although the 5C outsells the older models, it has to be considered in a relative way as the whole market is growing.
I actually think some companies design products to be less appealing on purpose. The XBox One for example looks like a VCR just now but the benefit this has is that a redesign mid-cycle can be much more compelling and makes another round of profits at higher margins from people upgrading - they can then add those upgrades units together to show more sales than competitors whose mid-cycle redesign might not be so compelling. I don't think Apple intended to do this but it had that effect. It's the same reason some would recommend hanging round with a less attractive friend when looking for a date because people judge everything in a relative way so you end up looking better by comparison.
The 5C is the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) to the 5S and the 5S is picking up more of the attention but I also suspect some lost sales given the small growth over last year. The margins fell too, which suggests the move wasn't entirely positive. The benefit of reusing the old design is not having to build a new supply chain, you just keep the conveyer belt running and there are more shared parts with both models.
I hate these articles which claim that the 5C is a flop. Apple has sold zillions of them. They sell better than any phone on the planet save the 5S. If that's a flop, these "journalists" better learn to be fair!
If Apple kept the iPhone 5 as the mid range model, instead of the 5C they would have sold even more phones. Just saying.
I don't think the 5 would have sold less than the 5C. Not that this would necessarily be a good thing as it lowers the average selling price but some people see the price first. When you compare the 5 and 5S, the impression people will get is that the 5S has a fingerprint sensor but the 5 is for the most part the same visually. With the 5C, they are getting a visually inferior phone - colored luminous plastic is not visually more appealing than silver, black/grey or gold metal and is why they make jewellery out of the latter and not the former. Not everyone sees phones this way but they are fashion accessories to a lot of people like watches. If you had a nice outfit on, would you want to pull a bright green plastic phone out of your pocket or a classy black metal phone? The white plastic isn't bad but still not as nice as the silver metal.
Some people do like to have colorful phones, some people like custard yellow cars, pink running outfits, leopard print bed sheets, kids are ok with colorful objects too but that demographic for a premium phone isn't large especially when the much nicer model is $100 more. The biggest danger is driving people away from a $550 iPhone ($99 contract price point) to a $450-550 Android phone ($0-99 contract price point) under the impression that the iPhone is no longer using premium components at their preferred price point. The 4S still did. Although the 5C outsells the older models, it has to be considered in a relative way as the whole market is growing.
I actually think some companies design products to be less appealing on purpose. The XBox One for example looks like a VCR just now but the benefit this has is that a redesign mid-cycle can be much more compelling and makes another round of profits at higher margins from people upgrading - they can then add those upgrades units together to show more sales than competitors whose mid-cycle redesign might not be so compelling. I don't think Apple intended to do this but it had that effect. It's the same reason some would recommend hanging round with a less attractive friend when looking for a date because people judge everything in a relative way so you end up looking better by comparison.
The 5C is the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) to the 5S and the 5S is picking up more of the attention but I also suspect some lost sales given the small growth over last year. The margins fell too, which suggests the move wasn't entirely positive. The benefit of reusing the old design is not having to build a new supply chain, you just keep the conveyer belt running and there are more shared parts with both models.
I disagree. If you like green and you wear a green outfits, I bet you want your iPhone to match. Women don't like gun metal color purses or space gray shoes. The 5C may not be for tech types like us, but it isn't ugly by any stretch.
As for pushing sales towards Android, maybe, but I can't imagine it would affect the 5C more than it did the 4S last year or the 5 the year before that.
As for your xbox analogy, no gamer cares that it looks that bad (?). They only care what games you can play. It's not going to leave the house so you can't impress anyone with it. Somebody with an XBox isn't going to upgrade to the same systems it's because it's sleeker.
Can you blame average margin falling just on the 5C or can you blame them on the 4S and 4 that are still being sold?
If Apple kept the iPhone 5 as the mid range model, instead of the 5C they would have sold even more phones. Just saying.
That may be true in theory if you ignore the realities of large scale manufacturing. See post #18 above from Woochifer.
I remember lots of stories about the difficulty in machining the aluminum case and high reject rates when the iPhone 5 launched. Keeping the aluminum clad 5 might have constrained sales of the flagship 5S and caused a huge backlash from customers, not to mention the s**t-storm from the press.
The 5c might have sold more units than the 4s in the same spot last year but it still didn't live up to the expectations that Apple had placed upon it, which is to grow the brand even more... possible even as high as 50% more than what has sold already.
That accounts for the 5-7 million missing units from the last quarter (or more if Apple was hoping the 5c would take some pressure off the 5s.
I think people misunderstand the role of the 5C in the product line-up. The 5C is only lacking sales now because the 5S completely knocked it out of the park.
The plastic enclosure means it is relatively easy to knock together, and refresh the lineup with new colour options. for this reason I believe Apple will opt to keep the 5C at its current feature set and push it into lower and lower price categories (rather than translate the 5S into a similar platic enclosure in 2014). The 5C will cascade into lower and lower price tiers until it reaches a point where it's sales displace the iPod touch from the lineup.
As newer Apple phones gain larger displays, better resolutions etc. the 5C will be different enough from their premium phones to target market segments with less disposable income that might otherwise compromise on experience and buy an android.
The 5c might have sold more units than the 4s in the same spot last year but it still didn't live up to the expectations that Apple had placed upon it, which is to grow the brand even more... possible even as high as 50% more than what has sold already.
That accounts for the 5-7 million missing units from the last quarter (or more if Apple was hoping the 5c would take some pressure off the 5s.
In that sense it is a flop.
So in your mind its a flop, for Apple its just one of many successful, revenue generating products.
And they increased this year's take on last year's iPhone while lowering their manufacturing costs. You're a genius!
I think people misunderstand the role of the 5C in the product line-up. The 5C is only lacking sales now because the 5S completely knocked it out of the park.
The plastic enclosure means it is relatively easy to knock together, and refresh the lineup with new colour options. for this reason I believe Apple will opt to keep the 5C at its current feature set and push it into lower and lower price categories (rather than translate the 5S into a similar platic enclosure in 2014). The 5C will cascade into lower and lower price tiers until it reaches a point where it's sales displace the iPod touch from the lineup.
As newer Apple phones gain larger displays, better resolutions etc. the 5C will be different enough from their premium phones to target market segments with less disposable income that might otherwise compromise on experience and buy an android.
There's the quandary for Mr. Cook. Is it not selling up to expectations because of the 5s, is it too expensive, is it just not liked or is it a combination of the three. Tim has to figure out if the 5c is worth keeping in the line-up.
My guess... he'll pull the pin on the 5c before September. I'm thinking that there will be a drastic price drop and then the 5c will just disappear. If Apple rolls it out again in the fall it will be one of those phones that has a very dated look and I'm not sure if even a drastic price drop would save it.
You'll need to learn that word first, before you start using it in a sentence.
Remind us again why you think the 5C is a failure... It didn't 'grow Apple's brand' more... right... more? Apple? huh?
What exactly grows on your island? Maybe plant more actual veggies.
Well, first of all, you'd have to point to the sentence in my comment that says I think it's a failure.... either that or just be a good boy and run along.
Well, first of all, you'd have to point to the sentence in my comment that says I think it's a failure.... either that or just be a good boy and run along.
Quote:
Originally Posted by island hermit
In that sense it is a flop.
Happy? Run along, and when you come back I like fresh pineapple in my pina colada.
You'll need to learn that word first, before you start using it in a sentence.
Remind us again why you think the 5C is a failure... It didn't 'grow Apple's brand' more... right... more? Apple? huh?
What exactly grows on your island? Maybe plant more actual veggies.
... and then you'd have to read what Mr. Cook said about the 5c not selling up to expectations and then apply that thought to the context of my comment.
My guess... this is all way beyond you.
Show us how smart you are... c'mon, you can do it.
Comments
Apple is Godlike and all should bow down to them!
IMHO, their is a huge diff between being Godlike and being God. You are however free to worship Whoever or whatever you like.
(Seems like this should be a corollary to Godwin's Law.)
The iPhone 5c has been completely misunderstood. It was created because Apple wanted more of its phones to work on China Mobile. The iPhone 5 would not work on China Mobile. The iPhone 5c had new colors and plastics but the important change was the RADIO.
The iPhone 5c has always been completely about China Mobile. By the end of this year, all current Apple iPhones will work on China Mobile. That alone was the reason for the 5c.
Samsung pays a lot for positive press propaganda.
Generally, Apple does best in countries with heavy subsidies.
When people have to buy their phone, the iPhone does not sell nearly as well, because people are too cheap to actually buy one, so they get some sort of cheap Android phone.
How do you explain the US market where android and ios phones cost the same subsidized?
I would reply that generally, Apple does best in countries with heavy subsidies, and that is a factor in iPhones selling so well in the American market.
I hate these articles which claim that the 5C is a flop. Apple has sold zillions of them. They sell better than any phone on the planet save the 5S. If that's a flop, these "journalists" better learn to be fair!
yeah. if ANY other company sold it, including Samsung, it would be a "runaway success and Apple should be shaking in their boots"
I don't think the 5 would have sold less than the 5C. Not that this would necessarily be a good thing as it lowers the average selling price but some people see the price first. When you compare the 5 and 5S, the impression people will get is that the 5S has a fingerprint sensor but the 5 is for the most part the same visually. With the 5C, they are getting a visually inferior phone - colored luminous plastic is not visually more appealing than silver, black/grey or gold metal and is why they make jewellery out of the latter and not the former. Not everyone sees phones this way but they are fashion accessories to a lot of people like watches. If you had a nice outfit on, would you want to pull a bright green plastic phone out of your pocket or a classy black metal phone? The white plastic isn't bad but still not as nice as the silver metal.
Some people do like to have colorful phones, some people like custard yellow cars, pink running outfits, leopard print bed sheets, kids are ok with colorful objects too but that demographic for a premium phone isn't large especially when the much nicer model is $100 more. The biggest danger is driving people away from a $550 iPhone ($99 contract price point) to a $450-550 Android phone ($0-99 contract price point) under the impression that the iPhone is no longer using premium components at their preferred price point. The 4S still did. Although the 5C outsells the older models, it has to be considered in a relative way as the whole market is growing.
I actually think some companies design products to be less appealing on purpose. The XBox One for example looks like a VCR just now but the benefit this has is that a redesign mid-cycle can be much more compelling and makes another round of profits at higher margins from people upgrading - they can then add those upgrades units together to show more sales than competitors whose mid-cycle redesign might not be so compelling. I don't think Apple intended to do this but it had that effect. It's the same reason some would recommend hanging round with a less attractive friend when looking for a date because people judge everything in a relative way so you end up looking better by comparison.
The 5C is the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) to the 5S and the 5S is picking up more of the attention but I also suspect some lost sales given the small growth over last year. The margins fell too, which suggests the move wasn't entirely positive. The benefit of reusing the old design is not having to build a new supply chain, you just keep the conveyer belt running and there are more shared parts with both models.
I hate these articles which claim that the 5C is a flop. Apple has sold zillions of them. They sell better than any phone on the planet save the 5S. If that's a flop, these "journalists" better learn to be fair!
If Apple kept the iPhone 5 as the mid range model, instead of the 5C they would have sold even more phones. Just saying.
I disagree. If you like green and you wear a green outfits, I bet you want your iPhone to match. Women don't like gun metal color purses or space gray shoes. The 5C may not be for tech types like us, but it isn't ugly by any stretch.
As for pushing sales towards Android, maybe, but I can't imagine it would affect the 5C more than it did the 4S last year or the 5 the year before that.
As for your xbox analogy, no gamer cares that it looks that bad (?). They only care what games you can play. It's not going to leave the house so you can't impress anyone with it. Somebody with an XBox isn't going to upgrade to the same systems it's because it's sleeker.
Can you blame average margin falling just on the 5C or can you blame them on the 4S and 4 that are still being sold?
And you have no proof. Just saying.
That may be true in theory if you ignore the realities of large scale manufacturing. See post #18 above from Woochifer.
I remember lots of stories about the difficulty in machining the aluminum case and high reject rates when the iPhone 5 launched. Keeping the aluminum clad 5 might have constrained sales of the flagship 5S and caused a huge backlash from customers, not to mention the s**t-storm from the press.
The 5c might have sold more units than the 4s in the same spot last year but it still didn't live up to the expectations that Apple had placed upon it, which is to grow the brand even more... possible even as high as 50% more than what has sold already.
That accounts for the 5-7 million missing units from the last quarter (or more if Apple was hoping the 5c would take some pressure off the 5s.
In that sense it is a flop.
The plastic enclosure means it is relatively easy to knock together, and refresh the lineup with new colour options. for this reason I believe Apple will opt to keep the 5C at its current feature set and push it into lower and lower price categories (rather than translate the 5S into a similar platic enclosure in 2014). The 5C will cascade into lower and lower price tiers until it reaches a point where it's sales displace the iPod touch from the lineup.
As newer Apple phones gain larger displays, better resolutions etc. the 5C will be different enough from their premium phones to target market segments with less disposable income that might otherwise compromise on experience and buy an android.
The 5c might have sold more units than the 4s in the same spot last year but it still didn't live up to the expectations that Apple had placed upon it, which is to grow the brand even more... possible even as high as 50% more than what has sold already.
That accounts for the 5-7 million missing units from the last quarter (or more if Apple was hoping the 5c would take some pressure off the 5s.
In that sense it is a flop.
So in your mind its a flop, for Apple its just one of many successful, revenue generating products.
And they increased this year's take on last year's iPhone while lowering their manufacturing costs. You're a genius!
So in your mind its a flop, for Apple its just one of many successful, revenue generating products.
And they increased this year's take on last year's iPhone while lowering their manufacturing costs. You're a genius!
Is comprehension a tough thing for you.
Is comprehension a tough thing for you.
You'll need to learn that word first, before you start using it in a sentence.
Remind us again why you think the 5C is a failure... It didn't 'grow Apple's brand' more... right... more? Apple? huh?
What exactly grows on your island? Maybe plant more actual veggies.
I think people misunderstand the role of the 5C in the product line-up. The 5C is only lacking sales now because the 5S completely knocked it out of the park.
The plastic enclosure means it is relatively easy to knock together, and refresh the lineup with new colour options. for this reason I believe Apple will opt to keep the 5C at its current feature set and push it into lower and lower price categories (rather than translate the 5S into a similar platic enclosure in 2014). The 5C will cascade into lower and lower price tiers until it reaches a point where it's sales displace the iPod touch from the lineup.
As newer Apple phones gain larger displays, better resolutions etc. the 5C will be different enough from their premium phones to target market segments with less disposable income that might otherwise compromise on experience and buy an android.
There's the quandary for Mr. Cook. Is it not selling up to expectations because of the 5s, is it too expensive, is it just not liked or is it a combination of the three. Tim has to figure out if the 5c is worth keeping in the line-up.
My guess... he'll pull the pin on the 5c before September. I'm thinking that there will be a drastic price drop and then the 5c will just disappear. If Apple rolls it out again in the fall it will be one of those phones that has a very dated look and I'm not sure if even a drastic price drop would save it.
You'll need to learn that word first, before you start using it in a sentence.
Remind us again why you think the 5C is a failure... It didn't 'grow Apple's brand' more... right... more? Apple? huh?
What exactly grows on your island? Maybe plant more actual veggies.
Well, first of all, you'd have to point to the sentence in my comment that says I think it's a failure.... either that or just be a good boy and run along.
You'll need to learn that word first, before you start using it in a sentence.
Remind us again why you think the 5C is a failure... It didn't 'grow Apple's brand' more... right... more? Apple? huh?
What exactly grows on your island? Maybe plant more actual veggies.
... and then you'd have to look up the word "even", because it seems to have escaped you when I used that word in my comment.
Well, first of all, you'd have to point to the sentence in my comment that says I think it's a failure.... either that or just be a good boy and run along.
In that sense it is a flop.
Happy? Run along, and when you come back I like fresh pineapple in my pina colada.
You'll need to learn that word first, before you start using it in a sentence.
Remind us again why you think the 5C is a failure... It didn't 'grow Apple's brand' more... right... more? Apple? huh?
What exactly grows on your island? Maybe plant more actual veggies.
... and then you'd have to read what Mr. Cook said about the 5c not selling up to expectations and then apply that thought to the context of my comment.
My guess... this is all way beyond you.
Show us how smart you are... c'mon, you can do it.