4 ms·

Time will tell, but for the sake of argument: at c. $550 for the unsubsidised version this is a very high price point for the "iPhone for emerging markets" argu

by antr 13y ago

Time will tell, but for the sake of argument: at c. $550 for the unsubsidised version this is a very high price point for the "iPhone for emerging markets" argument. I'm just very curious to see the market expansion with this "lower" tier model.

badman_ting 13y ago
This is meant to be the mid-tier phone, not the cheap phone
- douglasisshiny 13y ago
  After having purchased the Nexus 4, having to pay $550 for this phone seems insane.
  - nvarsj 13y ago
    Having owned a Nexus 4, it is really no comparison to the build quality of an iphone 4/5. It has amazing innards and the best mobile OS, but the case is cheap and fragile.
    - fein 13y ago
      The iPhone 4 had a glass back, bad example there.
      - psbp 13y ago
        I've dropped my iPhone 4 dozens of times and it never broke the back. I dropped the Nexus 4 once and it cracked all the way down the back of the device. Nexus 4 is still a great device overall (especially for the price), but the iPhone build quality is seemingly worth the premium.
    - douglasisshiny 13y ago
      I agree about the build quality / material. But having a nice case helps mitigate the differences.
    - corresation 13y ago
      While this is somewhat subjective, you cannot be talking about the Nexus 4. There is nothing cheap about its case. And this is somewhat bizarre when we're talking about a device that you've never touched (the iPhone 5c), which we already know is made of the much reviled plastic.
      - outworlder 13y ago
        I own a Nexus 4, and there is: the backside. It scratches very, very easily. Plus (even though this is anedoctal), it appears to crack just as easily if dropped. That was absolutely not the case with my old iPhone 4. The front glass is fine, but the back is crap.
        kalleboo 13y ago
        The 5C is plastic though, and anyone who owned an old plastic iPod can tell you how quickly they got scratched.
      - nvarsj 13y ago
        I think it's a safe assumption that the 5C/S will be at least as solid as their predecessors. I owned an N4 for a year. I replaced the back and front glass on it. I have two kids, and my iPhones have suffered no end of abuse - with very little damage. The Nexus on the other hand - I barely knocked it against a table and the back shattered. I dropped it a few inches onto my work desk, and the front shattered. Taking it apart, I could see firsthand how flimsy and thin the case and glass are, especially the back. This is well documented on the web. Granted it's my own little anecdote. I still think it's a great device otherwise - Android flies on it, and I far prefer Android to iOS. I doubt I'll buy another iPhone again no matter how nice the hardware is.
    - tensor 13y ago
      This kind of comment really brings down the level of discourse on this site. If the Nexus 4 is cheap and fragile, then the iPhone 4 is broken, cheap and fragile. They are built with the same materials, but the Nexus doesn't suffer from the embarrassingly bad antenna design of the iphone.
  - kennywinker 13y ago
    You think that's bad, try the $450 price tag for an unlocked 4S
wmf 13y ago
This is an example of how rumors can be bad when they don't come true. It was rumored that the 5C would be much cheaper for emerging markets, but clearly that's not Apple's strategy (at least not yet).
- Shivetya 13y ago
  Far too many thought the C was a price reference instead it turned out to be C as in Colors. Regardless, very disappointing price point they have for all their phones. Apple apparently sees no need to compete on price.
  - JonFish85 13y ago
    "Regardless, very disappointing price point they have for all their phones. Apple apparently sees no need to compete on price." Apple has never really put competing on price at the top of their priority list, whether it was phones, laptops, tablets, etc. It's important to them, but ultimately they make premium devices. They're at the top end of price, and that's where they want to be. Consumers have proven that they will pay for the Apple experience/infrastructure, so until that changes, I'm not sure why they'd change. Not to mention that from an investor's standpoint, the price point has been great so far: people have spent money hand-over-fist on Apple products. There hasn't really been a need for aggressive cost-cutting yet.
- na85 13y ago
  They know if they release a $300 phone it will eradicate their brand prestige, which IMO is the only thing keeping them in the game.
cliveowen 13y ago
I think this lineup may backfire. People with a 4S wanting to upgrade will probably opt for the coloured, cheaper version. People who previously wouldn't have bought the iPhone because too expensive (mostly in Europe where subsidized planes aren't always available) won't buy it now anyway because the 5c is in the same ballpark of the 5s. They have basically introduced a cheaper alternative to old customers.
- taylodl 13y ago
  I think they're targeting young customers. Think of all the parents of teens that wouldn't shell out $199 for an iPhone but would happily shell out $99. Neither the kids, nor their parents, are particularly interested in quality and whether this phone has the same value as the 5s. Plus the kids would presumably be attracted to the colors.
- mikeash 13y ago
  I doubt Apple will be at all upset if people flock to the 5C, for which they still get $550 apiece, made from cheaper components than the iPhone 5 that they otherwise would have been selling at that price point.
- pekk 13y ago
  Whether they are old customers or not doesn't matter, if selling more phones at a slightly lower price makes more money.
roc 13y ago
I never understood the expectation for the 5C to be introduced so cheaply. Apple's M.O. has been good/better/best, with increasingly older models making up the cheaper slots. Without a 5C, everyone would have expected 5S/5/4S. So with a 5C in the 'good' slot, that would imply 5S/5/5C -- but who would buy a 5 for $100 more, if it's barely distinguishable from the 5C? And they couldn't have stripped a 5C down much further to build more separation -- at its core a 5 needs the internals it has to drive its display with the performance and battery life Apple aims for and advertises. So as soon as we saw the screen dimensions and assumed 5C (vs 4SC), people really ought to have expected 5S/5C/4S. Further, Apple's finally landed a few highly-sought-after carriers in the East, which will bring a ton of sales all by itself. So why would anyone expect them to take a margin hit pitching a more attractive $450 model (and at the expense of having any clear $550 offering) when they haven't soaked the early adopters yet? Next year, the 5C will flow down naturally to the 'good' slot: 6/5S/5C. And its construction likely allows Apple to shoot even lower than the 4Ss $450 slot. That's when I'd expect to see Apple make a price play. Perhaps even sliding everything down the scale a little, to make room for the rumored larger-screen iPhone at the new premium price point. In any event, it will be interesting to see how they move forward from that. 6/5S/5C -> 6S/6/... 5SC? Would the larger-screen variant flow down the way the larger screen of the 5 is simply becoming 'standard'? Or would it remain an essentially separate product that simply got refreshed at its existing price point and didn't have a deep bench of older models, ala iPod Touch?
- Asterick6 13y ago
  The iPhone 5 will most likely be discontinued and the iPhone 4S will be made free with contract.
- Pxtl 13y ago
  I'm actually imagining that Apple would be rushing more to drop the 4S since they made breaking changes between the 4S and the 5 in terms of the screen size and the lightning connector.

by antr 13y ago

badman_ting 13y ago

This is meant to be the mid-tier phone, not the cheap phone

douglasisshiny 13y ago
After having purchased the Nexus 4, having to pay $550 for this phone seems insane.
- nvarsj 13y ago
  Having owned a Nexus 4, it is really no comparison to the build quality of an iphone 4/5. It has amazing innards and the best mobile OS, but the case is cheap and fragile.
  - fein 13y ago
    The iPhone 4 had a glass back, bad example there.
    - psbp 13y ago
      I've dropped my iPhone 4 dozens of times and it never broke the back. I dropped the Nexus 4 once and it cracked all the way down the back of the device. Nexus 4 is still a great device overall (especially for the price), but the iPhone build quality is seemingly worth the premium.
  - douglasisshiny 13y ago
    I agree about the build quality / material. But having a nice case helps mitigate the differences.
  - corresation 13y ago
    While this is somewhat subjective, you cannot be talking about the Nexus 4. There is nothing cheap about its case. And this is somewhat bizarre when we're talking about a device that you've never touched (the iPhone 5c), which we already know is made of the much reviled plastic.
    - outworlder 13y ago
      I own a Nexus 4, and there is: the backside. It scratches very, very easily. Plus (even though this is anedoctal), it appears to crack just as easily if dropped. That was absolutely not the case with my old iPhone 4. The front glass is fine, but the back is crap.
      - kalleboo 13y ago
        The 5C is plastic though, and anyone who owned an old plastic iPod can tell you how quickly they got scratched.
    - nvarsj 13y ago
      I think it's a safe assumption that the 5C/S will be at least as solid as their predecessors. I owned an N4 for a year. I replaced the back and front glass on it. I have two kids, and my iPhones have suffered no end of abuse - with very little damage. The Nexus on the other hand - I barely knocked it against a table and the back shattered. I dropped it a few inches onto my work desk, and the front shattered. Taking it apart, I could see firsthand how flimsy and thin the case and glass are, especially the back. This is well documented on the web. Granted it's my own little anecdote. I still think it's a great device otherwise - Android flies on it, and I far prefer Android to iOS. I doubt I'll buy another iPhone again no matter how nice the hardware is.
  - tensor 13y ago
    This kind of comment really brings down the level of discourse on this site. If the Nexus 4 is cheap and fragile, then the iPhone 4 is broken, cheap and fragile. They are built with the same materials, but the Nexus doesn't suffer from the embarrassingly bad antenna design of the iphone.
- kennywinker 13y ago
  You think that's bad, try the $450 price tag for an unlocked 4S

wmf 13y ago

This is an example of how rumors can be bad when they don't come true. It was rumored that the 5C would be much cheaper for emerging markets, but clearly that's not Apple's strategy (at least not yet).

Shivetya 13y ago
Far too many thought the C was a price reference instead it turned out to be C as in Colors. Regardless, very disappointing price point they have for all their phones. Apple apparently sees no need to compete on price.
- JonFish85 13y ago
  "Regardless, very disappointing price point they have for all their phones. Apple apparently sees no need to compete on price." Apple has never really put competing on price at the top of their priority list, whether it was phones, laptops, tablets, etc. It's important to them, but ultimately they make premium devices. They're at the top end of price, and that's where they want to be. Consumers have proven that they will pay for the Apple experience/infrastructure, so until that changes, I'm not sure why they'd change. Not to mention that from an investor's standpoint, the price point has been great so far: people have spent money hand-over-fist on Apple products. There hasn't really been a need for aggressive cost-cutting yet.
na85 13y ago
They know if they release a $300 phone it will eradicate their brand prestige, which IMO is the only thing keeping them in the game.

cliveowen 13y ago

I think this lineup may backfire. People with a 4S wanting to upgrade will probably opt for the coloured, cheaper version. People who previously wouldn't have bought the iPhone because too expensive (mostly in Europe where subsidized planes aren't always available) won't buy it now anyway because the 5c is in the same ballpark of the 5s. They have basically introduced a cheaper alternative to old customers.

taylodl 13y ago
I think they're targeting young customers. Think of all the parents of teens that wouldn't shell out $199 for an iPhone but would happily shell out $99. Neither the kids, nor their parents, are particularly interested in quality and whether this phone has the same value as the 5s. Plus the kids would presumably be attracted to the colors.
mikeash 13y ago
I doubt Apple will be at all upset if people flock to the 5C, for which they still get $550 apiece, made from cheaper components than the iPhone 5 that they otherwise would have been selling at that price point.
pekk 13y ago
Whether they are old customers or not doesn't matter, if selling more phones at a slightly lower price makes more money.

roc 13y ago

I never understood the expectation for the 5C to be introduced so cheaply. Apple's M.O. has been good/better/best, with increasingly older models making up the cheaper slots. Without a 5C, everyone would have expected 5S/5/4S. So with a 5C in the 'good' slot, that would imply 5S/5/5C -- but who would buy a 5 for $100 more, if it's barely distinguishable from the 5C? And they couldn't have stripped a 5C down much further to build more separation -- at its core a 5 needs the internals it has to drive its display with the performance and battery life Apple aims for and advertises. So as soon as we saw the screen dimensions and assumed 5C (vs 4SC), people really ought to have expected 5S/5C/4S. Further, Apple's finally landed a few highly-sought-after carriers in the East, which will bring a ton of sales all by itself. So why would anyone expect them to take a margin hit pitching a more attractive $450 model (and at the expense of having any clear $550 offering) when they haven't soaked the early adopters yet? Next year, the 5C will flow down naturally to the 'good' slot: 6/5S/5C. And its construction likely allows Apple to shoot even lower than the 4Ss $450 slot. That's when I'd expect to see Apple make a price play. Perhaps even sliding everything down the scale a little, to make room for the rumored larger-screen iPhone at the new premium price point. In any event, it will be interesting to see how they move forward from that. 6/5S/5C -> 6S/6/... 5SC? Would the larger-screen variant flow down the way the larger screen of the 5 is simply becoming 'standard'? Or would it remain an essentially separate product that simply got refreshed at its existing price point and didn't have a deep bench of older models, ala iPod Touch?

Asterick6 13y ago
The iPhone 5 will most likely be discontinued and the iPhone 4S will be made free with contract.
Pxtl 13y ago
I'm actually imagining that Apple would be rushing more to drop the 4S since they made breaking changes between the 4S and the 5 in terms of the screen size and the lightning connector.