Vodafone Germany to reportedly stop 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 sales, 16GB model to live on
Purportedly leaked photos of Vodafone Germany's ERP system reveals the telecom will discontinue sales of 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 models, but will carry over the 16GB version as a possible intermediate device positioned between the rumored iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S.
Source: Flo's Weblog
The images, first posted to the Web by German site Flo's Weblog (via MacRumors), appear to be two snapshots of Vodafone's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the first showing iPhone stock status and a second explaining the discontinuation of certain models.
In the image above, all current models of Apple's iPhone 5, as well as the legacy 3GS, are listed next to their respective availability. While both the black and white versions of Apple's 16GB iPhone 5 remain "available for shipping," the 32GB and 64GB models are shown as "not available." The white 32GB iPhone 5 is "available," though the status is thought to reflect units on hand.
The second image, seen above, is a shot of an email that reportedly went out to Vodafone shops in Germany on Thursday. The message reads, in part:
Analysts are split on what Apple plans to do with its legacy iPhone lineup. In August, KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple would position the iPhone 5C as a mid-tier model, replacing the entire iPhone 5 line and making the iPhone 4S the entry level offering. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, however, believes the 5C will take over for the 4S at the bottom, leaving the current iPhone 5 as an intermediate model.
Apple's 2013 handset lineup should soon be revealed, as the company this week announced a Sept. 10 media event that is widely expected to focus on the iPhone.
Source: Flo's Weblog
The images, first posted to the Web by German site Flo's Weblog (via MacRumors), appear to be two snapshots of Vodafone's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the first showing iPhone stock status and a second explaining the discontinuation of certain models.
In the image above, all current models of Apple's iPhone 5, as well as the legacy 3GS, are listed next to their respective availability. While both the black and white versions of Apple's 16GB iPhone 5 remain "available for shipping," the 32GB and 64GB models are shown as "not available." The white 32GB iPhone 5 is "available," though the status is thought to reflect units on hand.
The second image, seen above, is a shot of an email that reportedly went out to Vodafone shops in Germany on Thursday. The message reads, in part:
It is not clear whether Apple itself is discontinuing the models, or if Vodafone has simply decided not to carry them. If Apple were to discontinue the iPhone 5 and 4S models, it would be left with a rumored lower-cost handset in the iPhone 5C, a 16GB iPhone 5, and the expected flagship iPhone 5S.Here again the news of the day:
Discontinued Hardware
The following items are no longer available and [unreadable?] contract acquisition disabled:Wares on site at the point-of-sale can of course continue to be sold.
- iPhone 5 32GB Black
- iPhone 5 32GB White
- iPhone 5 64GB Black
- iPhone 5 64GB White
- iPhone 4S 16GB Black
- iPhone 4S 16GB White
Analysts are split on what Apple plans to do with its legacy iPhone lineup. In August, KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple would position the iPhone 5C as a mid-tier model, replacing the entire iPhone 5 line and making the iPhone 4S the entry level offering. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, however, believes the 5C will take over for the 4S at the bottom, leaving the current iPhone 5 as an intermediate model.
Apple's 2013 handset lineup should soon be revealed, as the company this week announced a Sept. 10 media event that is widely expected to focus on the iPhone.
Comments
Of course it would make sense to discontinue all 4/4S models, as this would eliminate the old aspect ratio and dock connector at once. (Force developers to finally update their 3:2 iPhone apps and spur the availability of Lightning compatible accessories.)
It's typical to discontinue the non-16GB previously-new models when the new-new models are coming out.
The reason many of us assumed the 5 was going off to pasture was partly because of its production costs and also because the 5C was assumed to likely occupy the same price bracket.
What this says to me is the 5C will be cheap enough that people won't cross shop it with the 5 and Apple finds selling both handsets profitable.
I'm thinking we see 8GB 5C starting at $349 with a 16 GB option at $449. The 5 will be priced at $549.
The point of an 8GB model is to push upsale to more expensive 16GB models. The 5C is only the gateway drug to iOS. Apple will want people to eventually upgrade to pricier handsets with more storage in the future.
I agree with most of his but I think the 5C will be 16GB. 8GB is not enough these days.
I am not so sure. The "C" targets several markets where people do not buy a lot of content and apps, and even quite a few are not even on 3G. Getting to the lowest possible entry price makes a lot of sense (and it does not keep them from offering higher capacity models). And while I do not see Apple doubling storage space for $20 or $30, I have to agree with Timbit that they have to do "something" at some point. Either double the entry-level storage at the same price (as they did with the MBAs), or make these price gaps a bit smaller. While I do love my 64 GB iPad Mini with 4G, $866 (current price in Germany) is in painful territory (and I absolutely acknowledge that I am contradicting myself, because I paid that much).
Because the 5C is not an iPod? Also the current iPhone 4 is only 8GB and it currently make up 25% of iPhone sales. I don't think an entry level phone needs to be more than that.
Actually after my 16GB iPhome reached capacity I had to purchase additional space on iCloud so that I could still have access to all my content on the go.
That's another upsale advantage for Apple. But I do agree the premium handset needs to START at 32GB and go up from there.
(2) I'm not sure that Apple want to neuter the phone they are counting on to win over a very tech savvy China with only 8gb of memory. If so, I would expect only a $50 upcharge to the 16gb model. The difference between 8gb and 16gb probably only costs Apple $2 or less per phone. Also, I would think they want to encourage, not discourage, lots of downloading from iTunes and the App Store.
Apple could get the same affect by encouraging the purchase of additional iCloud storage.
I'm able to manage 25GB of apps songs and videos on a 16GB device today.
Tech savvy Chinese will have no problem navigating iCloud. I'm pretty sure they can use it for storage even without iTunes Match?
Regardless this is a $300 smartphone we're taking about. There are bound to be trade offs.
Apple could get the same affect by encouraging the purchase of additional iCloud storage.
I'm able to manage 25GB of apps songs and videos on a 16GB device today.
Tech savvy Chinese will have no problem navigating iCloud. I'm pretty sure they can use it for storage even without iTunes Match?
Regardless this is a $300 smartphone we're taking about. There are bound to be trade offs.
iCloud is no solution when you don't have 3G (at least), it is no solution when your tariff is capped at 200 MB, and when (as quite common in Asia) corporate WLANs won't allow your personal devices on it (unless you are important). My current main customer is an Indian company with 11k+ seats. Only C-level admins get 3G, other managers have to do with 2.5G/EDGE. Departments with over 200 people share a 4 Mbit/s line (for desktops and mobiles) and almost nobody has a private 3G contract (or only one with minimum data caps starting at something like 50 MB). Using iCloud as a selling point for anything is a lost cause here. And judging by my last visits to Shanghai and Beijing, I would not rely on a cloud based approach there either, as the networks are overloaded virtually all of the time.
I am also not sure Apple will meet a $300 price tag, even $399 would astonish me.
iCloud is no solution when you don't have 3G (at least), it is no solution when your tariff is capped at 200 MB, and when (as quite common in Asia) corporate WLANs won't allow your personal devices on it (unless you are important).
Absolutely. iCloud is no solution in countries like India or China, it's not even a solution here in Germany. The majority of tariffs are capped at 1GB/month for 3G, I personally run a prepaid contract with 200MB/month out of cost/usage reasons. That won't get me far. Plus, as developed a country as Germany is, there are still areas where there is no 3G available. I like iCloud for document synchronisation across devices but it doesn't solve the storage problem for most people in the world.
I also agree the upgrade prices for storage on the iPhone are way too high. Going from 16GB to 32GB at Apple costs €110 (~$144), upping the price for the 32GB model to €789 (~$1035) off-contract - that's how most people buy their phones here. I'm no fan of buying cheapass devices and am certainly willing to pay a premium for a high quality product, but $1035 is a steep price to pay upfront. A 5C 32GB for around €500 ($656) would be fabulous honestly. I'd definitely pick one up, my iP4 is getting a little rusty.
The point of an 8GB model is to push upsale to more expensive 16GB models. The 5C is only the gateway drug to iOS. Apple will want people to eventually upgrade to pricier handsets with more storage in the future.
How about 16 pushing people to 32? I have a 32GB iPhone and I'm constantly running out of space. Plus iPods start at 16GB so why would the iPhone have less space than the iPod?
I can only imagine how much space we will need if the 5S can do 4K video. I'm thinking 16GB on the bottom too.
I'm probably going with a 128GB model if one is offered. My biggest problem is video. It chews through the space and I don't sync them off that frequently. Not sure why in the hell I still have to sync videos off with iPhoto. I understand why it doesn't go through iCloud, but it should do it with iTunes via Wifi.
Man, I wish we had the schwarz and weiss iPhones here in Australia, all we have are the plain black and white ones.