It wasn’t. The only mistake was in letting anyone, in even the slightest amount, think it was a new device.
Maybe so. But the product was not priced or positioned correctly IMHO. Plus Apple broke from their habit of keeping last years model around when introducing this years. Why not just keep the 5 around? Why the multi-colors? Most users use a case anyway to customize the device. Apple even sells a colored case for their colored phone
Maybe so. But the product was not priced or positioned correctly IMHO. Plus Apple broke from their habit of keeping last years model around when introducing this years. Why not just keep the 5 around? Why the multi-colors? Most users use a case anyway to customize the device. Apple even sells a colored case for their colored phone
You're not wrong. It was a mistake.
It still doesn't stop these guys on AI from thinking that you can put all these really bright guys from Apple in a room and everything from here to eternity will come up smelling like roses.
Hopefully something was learned. Hopefully the team at Apple isn't having a head scratching moment. Hopefully they'll just move on knowing that there batting average is still really good... just not 1000.
Are you crazy? What on earth do you think the 5C is?
I will ignore the first question and answer the second one. The 5c is a 5 with a few minor tweaks, a plastic case, and multiple colors. Most 'enthusiasts' see it for what it is. However, the 'average' consumer doesn't know or care. They just want the best value for their dollar. Compared to the 5c, the 5s is a MUCH better value. The real issue, in my opinion, is that the 5c is a distraction. Why bring out the same, with a few colors when you could have either kept the 5, as is, or replaced it with a larger sized handset. Apple is doing pretty well overall, but I think they are 'leaving money on the table' by not appealing to those consumers who want a larger handset. Many consumers, such as myself, have held off upgrading until Apple brings out a larger model. My company gave me a Samsung G3 and the ONLY thing I like about it (besides not seeing the bill) is the larger size. YMMV...
I like the 5c. It feels really nice in the hand. The colors are are pretty cool, other than the odd pink/orange. I bought the 5c when it came out and but I sold it for $400 and bought the 5s instead.
Some people cringe a little when they look at the colors...that's ok, they have a 4s or 5s for alternatives.
The ONLY reason people thought this was a "cheap" phone is because ever rumor site in the world, including this one, all got wind of a "plastic" phone and started all these rumors that Apple was designing a Cheap phone for emerging markets.
People were confused when it turned out to be an iPhone 5 with a polycarbonate shell and wasn't "cheap" like all the rumor sites said it would be.
I will ignore the first question and answer the second one. The 5c is a 5 with a few minor tweaks, a plastic case, and multiple colors. Most 'enthusiasts' see it for what it is. However, the 'average' consumer doesn't know or care. They just want the best value for their dollar. Compared to the 5c, the 5s is a MUCH better value. The real issue, in my opinion, is that the 5c is a distraction. Why bring out the same, with a few colors when you could have either kept the 5, as is, or replaced it with a larger sized handset. Apple is doing pretty well overall, but I think they are 'leaving money on the table' by not appealing to those consumers who want a larger handset. Many consumers, such as myself, have held off upgrading until Apple brings out a larger model. My company gave me a Samsung G3 and the ONLY thing I like about it (besides not seeing the bill) is the larger size. YMMV...
which makes me think that maybe Apple, in all their cleverness, knew that it would drive people to the 5s, and that was the plan from the beginning.... I mean... FIFTY-ONE MILLION iPhones sold in a single quarter.
And roughly 2/3 of those were iPhone 5s...... um, yeah?
There was a lot of talk about the 5C being for the China market where people supposedly couldn't afford a 5S. This was wrong. People can afford it, but more importantly it has no prestige and has a too small a screen. They would be better to quickly scrap it, make the 5s the entry phone and have 2 big screen phones. Everyone in Asia has big screens now.
I was saying couple of months ago here that iPhone 5c is a flop and no one's is buying it, because it's to expensive for what it is, everyone's started to attack me. Now here's the result. It's not it's a bad phone but it's too expensive. It should be 100$ or more less then maybe it would sell on emerging market and people who really can't afford the flagship iPhone. But most who can throw 500$ for new phone, can also throw 600 and they will rather throw 600 and get all the neat new stuff that 5S offers.
You're a little confused. Optimal pricing is not about selling more units or generating more revenue, it's about maximizing profit, or long term profitability if you wish. You're saying that if Apple had priced the 5c lower then 5c sales would have taken off. But what does that do to 5s sales? And over all profitability? We don't know, so we don't have any basis for judging if bad price management really occurred.
I'm not really that confused. I know the pricing was wrong because the CEO of the company said it was. He said demand wasn't as expected, therefore they got the price wrong. As for a cheaper iPhone 5C reducing sales of the 5S, that's purely speculative. What we can say for certain is that all buyers of the 5S could afford to buy a 5S. The people who bought neither might ( and many probably would) have bought a cheaper 5c.
which makes me think that maybe Apple, in all their cleverness, knew that it would drive people to the 5s, and that was the plan from the beginning.... I mean... FIFTY-ONE MILLION iPhones sold in a single quarter.
And roughly 2/3 of those were iPhone 5s...... um, yeah?
Apple didn't design the 5C to make the 5S look good. That's not their design strategy.
Touch ID did not excite me. It's more tedious to use than a passcode.
I take it you don't own a 5s then? Seriously just pushing the home button & having your phone unlock is far easier (& quicker) than turning on the screen & entering your pass code.
All of us who said at launch that the iPhone 5c is a nice product but that it's priced too high have been proven right.
Got flamed by a lot of people for saying it at the time though.
No one but an idiot would buy the 5c over the 5s at the base point pricing.
Still, a lot of really good deals have started to emerge whereby phone companies are trying to move their unsold inventory and at the new pricing it's become quite tempting.
The 5c is a really nice device, it's just that Apple was greedy.
which makes me think that maybe Apple, in all their cleverness, knew that it would drive people to the 5s, and that was the plan from the beginning.... I mean... FIFTY-ONE MILLION iPhones sold in a single quarter.
And roughly 2/3 of those were iPhone 5s...... um, yeah?
So the 5C easily outsold the nine million Galaxy S4's which Samsung reported as sold last quarter and pretty much every other smartphone except for the 5S.
There was a lot of talk about the 5C being for the China market where people supposedly couldn't afford a 5S. This was wrong. People can afford it, but more importantly it has no prestige and has a too small a screen. They would be better to quickly scrap it, make the 5s the entry phone and have 2 big screen phones. Everyone in Asia has big screens now.
Apple sold 51 million iPhones, Samsung "shipped" 86 million "smartphones" but only nine million were Galaxy S4's.
The market has spoken, iPhone and smaller sized screens dominate sales.
I'm not really that confused. I know the pricing was wrong because the CEO of the company said it was. He said demand wasn't as expected, therefore they got the price wrong. As for a cheaper iPhone 5C reducing sales of the 5S, that's purely speculative. What we can say for certain is that all buyers of the 5S could afford to buy a 5S. The people who bought neither might ( and many probably would) have bought a cheaper 5c.
Apple didn't design the 5C to make the 5S look good. That's not their design strategy.
What we know for certain is the 5C comfortably outsold all Samsung's high end smartphones last quarter.
"I think the 5s, people are really intrigued with Touch ID," Cook said. "It's a major feature that has excited people. And I think that associated with the other things that are unique to the 5s, got the 5s to have a significant amount more attention and a higher mix of sales.""People are really intrigued with Touch ID" - Apple CEO Tim Cook on why the iPhone 5s has proven more popular than the 5c.
"People are really intrigued with Touch ID" I get it! I get it! So next year's 5C (if there is one) will have Touch ID at the same price. Of course this year's 5C will drop down the hierarchy and will be cheaper. Same procedure as last year, James.
I'm not really that confused. I know the pricing was wrong because the CEO of the company said it was. He said demand wasn't as expected, therefore they got the price wrong. As for a cheaper iPhone 5C reducing sales of the 5S, that's purely speculative. What we can say for certain is that all buyers of the 5S could afford to buy a 5S. The people who bought neither might ( and many probably would) have bought a cheaper 5c.
The number of people that is described by your last sentence above is purely speculative as well. And the sentence before that is a tautology. We can be fairly confident which way 5s and 5c unit sales will go if 5c prices fall, but how that affects profits for both phones -- that one is purely speculative on our part. See, none of us have the detailed sales figures that Apple has so I would trust their judgement on pricing rather than either of ours. And they still made a mistake in their demand forecast.
And no, just because the CEO admitted that they misjudged demand , that doesn't mean they mispriced it. They mispriced it if the goal is simply to sell more 5cs, but you know that's not the goal. The goal is to maximize profitability across their product line, probably with the strong caveat of not diluting their aspirational brand image by selling something 'cheap'. What they hoped to do was an iPhone version of the iPod Mini which was to sell to a different segment, one that would love the colorful design and would be willing to pay a premium for it. Obviously they overestimated the size of that submarket.
The airtight indicator that they mispriced it is if they dropped the price. They still might, but until they do, we can't conclude that they had a pricing error.
Comments
Sog35 will not like this.
(Sorry Sog, had to rag you just a little bit, all in fun)
Jungmark will like it even less.
It wasn’t. The only mistake was in letting anyone, in even the slightest amount, think it was a new device.
Maybe so. But the product was not priced or positioned correctly IMHO. Plus Apple broke from their habit of keeping last years model around when introducing this years. Why not just keep the 5 around? Why the multi-colors? Most users use a case anyway to customize the device. Apple even sells a colored case for their colored phone
Are you crazy? What on earth do you think the 5C is?
I'm not sure we have enough crow to go around!
Maybe so. But the product was not priced or positioned correctly IMHO. Plus Apple broke from their habit of keeping last years model around when introducing this years. Why not just keep the 5 around? Why the multi-colors? Most users use a case anyway to customize the device. Apple even sells a colored case for their colored phone
You're not wrong. It was a mistake.
It still doesn't stop these guys on AI from thinking that you can put all these really bright guys from Apple in a room and everything from here to eternity will come up smelling like roses.
Hopefully something was learned. Hopefully the team at Apple isn't having a head scratching moment. Hopefully they'll just move on knowing that there batting average is still really good... just not 1000.
Are you crazy? What on earth do you think the 5C is?
I will ignore the first question and answer the second one. The 5c is a 5 with a few minor tweaks, a plastic case, and multiple colors. Most 'enthusiasts' see it for what it is. However, the 'average' consumer doesn't know or care. They just want the best value for their dollar. Compared to the 5c, the 5s is a MUCH better value. The real issue, in my opinion, is that the 5c is a distraction. Why bring out the same, with a few colors when you could have either kept the 5, as is, or replaced it with a larger sized handset. Apple is doing pretty well overall, but I think they are 'leaving money on the table' by not appealing to those consumers who want a larger handset. Many consumers, such as myself, have held off upgrading until Apple brings out a larger model. My company gave me a Samsung G3 and the ONLY thing I like about it (besides not seeing the bill) is the larger size. YMMV...
I like the 5c. It feels really nice in the hand. The colors are are pretty cool, other than the odd pink/orange. I bought the 5c when it came out and but I sold it for $400 and bought the 5s instead.
Some people cringe a little when they look at the colors...that's ok, they have a 4s or 5s for alternatives.
The ONLY reason people thought this was a "cheap" phone is because ever rumor site in the world, including this one, all got wind of a "plastic" phone and started all these rumors that Apple was designing a Cheap phone for emerging markets.
People were confused when it turned out to be an iPhone 5 with a polycarbonate shell and wasn't "cheap" like all the rumor sites said it would be.
I will ignore the first question and answer the second one. The 5c is a 5 with a few minor tweaks, a plastic case, and multiple colors. Most 'enthusiasts' see it for what it is. However, the 'average' consumer doesn't know or care. They just want the best value for their dollar. Compared to the 5c, the 5s is a MUCH better value. The real issue, in my opinion, is that the 5c is a distraction. Why bring out the same, with a few colors when you could have either kept the 5, as is, or replaced it with a larger sized handset. Apple is doing pretty well overall, but I think they are 'leaving money on the table' by not appealing to those consumers who want a larger handset. Many consumers, such as myself, have held off upgrading until Apple brings out a larger model. My company gave me a Samsung G3 and the ONLY thing I like about it (besides not seeing the bill) is the larger size. YMMV...
which makes me think that maybe Apple, in all their cleverness, knew that it would drive people to the 5s, and that was the plan from the beginning.... I mean... FIFTY-ONE MILLION iPhones sold in a single quarter.
And roughly 2/3 of those were iPhone 5s...... um, yeah?
I was saying couple of months ago here that iPhone 5c is a flop and no one's is buying it, because it's to expensive for what it is, everyone's started to attack me. Now here's the result. It's not it's a bad phone but it's too expensive. It should be 100$ or more less then maybe it would sell on emerging market and people who really can't afford the flagship iPhone. But most who can throw 500$ for new phone, can also throw 600 and they will rather throw 600 and get all the neat new stuff that 5S offers.
I'm not really that confused. I know the pricing was wrong because the CEO of the company said it was. He said demand wasn't as expected, therefore they got the price wrong. As for a cheaper iPhone 5C reducing sales of the 5S, that's purely speculative. What we can say for certain is that all buyers of the 5S could afford to buy a 5S. The people who bought neither might ( and many probably would) have bought a cheaper 5c.
Apple didn't design the 5C to make the 5S look good. That's not their design strategy.
Got flamed by a lot of people for saying it at the time though.
No one but an idiot would buy the 5c over the 5s at the base point pricing.
Still, a lot of really good deals have started to emerge whereby phone companies are trying to move their unsold inventory and at the new pricing it's become quite tempting.
The 5c is a really nice device, it's just that Apple was greedy.
which makes me think that maybe Apple, in all their cleverness, knew that it would drive people to the 5s, and that was the plan from the beginning.... I mean... FIFTY-ONE MILLION iPhones sold in a single quarter.
And roughly 2/3 of those were iPhone 5s...... um, yeah?
So the 5C easily outsold the nine million Galaxy S4's which Samsung reported as sold last quarter and pretty much every other smartphone except for the 5S.
What "fail"?
There was a lot of talk about the 5C being for the China market where people supposedly couldn't afford a 5S. This was wrong. People can afford it, but more importantly it has no prestige and has a too small a screen. They would be better to quickly scrap it, make the 5s the entry phone and have 2 big screen phones. Everyone in Asia has big screens now.
Apple sold 51 million iPhones, Samsung "shipped" 86 million "smartphones" but only nine million were Galaxy S4's.
The market has spoken, iPhone and smaller sized screens dominate sales.
Enough with the "big screen" crap already.
I'm not really that confused. I know the pricing was wrong because the CEO of the company said it was. He said demand wasn't as expected, therefore they got the price wrong. As for a cheaper iPhone 5C reducing sales of the 5S, that's purely speculative. What we can say for certain is that all buyers of the 5S could afford to buy a 5S. The people who bought neither might ( and many probably would) have bought a cheaper 5c.
Apple didn't design the 5C to make the 5S look good. That's not their design strategy.
What we know for certain is the 5C comfortably outsold all Samsung's high end smartphones last quarter.
"People are really intrigued with Touch ID" I get it! I get it! So next year's 5C (if there is one) will have Touch ID at the same price. Of course this year's 5C will drop down the hierarchy and will be cheaper. Same procedure as last year, James.
The number of people that is described by your last sentence above is purely speculative as well. And the sentence before that is a tautology. We can be fairly confident which way 5s and 5c unit sales will go if 5c prices fall, but how that affects profits for both phones -- that one is purely speculative on our part. See, none of us have the detailed sales figures that Apple has so I would trust their judgement on pricing rather than either of ours. And they still made a mistake in their demand forecast.
And no, just because the CEO admitted that they misjudged demand , that doesn't mean they mispriced it. They mispriced it if the goal is simply to sell more 5cs, but you know that's not the goal. The goal is to maximize profitability across their product line, probably with the strong caveat of not diluting their aspirational brand image by selling something 'cheap'. What they hoped to do was an iPhone version of the iPod Mini which was to sell to a different segment, one that would love the colorful design and would be willing to pay a premium for it. Obviously they overestimated the size of that submarket.
The airtight indicator that they mispriced it is if they dropped the price. They still might, but until they do, we can't conclude that they had a pricing error.