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At the unlocked price of $550 for the iPhone 5c and $650 for the considerably-better iPhone 5s, it doesn't seem like there's a huge price gap here. I have doubt
by markbao 13y ago
At the unlocked price of $550 for the iPhone 5c and $650 for the considerably-better iPhone 5s, it doesn't seem like there's a huge price gap here. I have doubts whether it'll sell that well as the mid-level smartphone. The 4s is $450, which is closer to the price point I would have expected.
- georgemcbay 13y agoThe price gap is in a way even worse subsidized because it is still just a $100 discount up front but the same price per month for the same contract length for a lesser phone. The 5C doesn't make much sense to me beyond people that really want more choice in the color of their phone.
- kennywinker 13y agoYou're forgetting how price sensitive people can be. I suspect it will do exceptionally well, even though the smart money is spent on the 5s.
- barake 13y agoMost people don't consider the true cost of a phone contract. They're only truly considering the up front cost - and a mid-range phone "costs half". It's really hard to get the average smartphone buyer to understand the price isn't $100 vs $200, but really $2500 vs $2600 over two years.
- ctdonath 13y agoIn the USA, considering the true cost of a phone contract is rather pointless because you can't get a contract that discounts monthly cost by buying the phone up front. You're going to pay the $2500 either way.
- pekk 13y agoYou're only going to pay $2500 if you plan to spend $104/mo. for one person. Is that a 'discount'? Of course not. If people spend that much, it is totally unnecessary. If you are going to budget $2500 for every two years, you could get an unlimited talk plan for $40/mo. and buy a $1540 phone every two years. If you put it to most people that they should buy a phone for $1500 every two years, they would think it was excessive.
- kalleboo 13y agoWith T-Mobile you now can though
- barake 13y agoT-Mobile USA has decoupled devices and plans. You can BYOD, or buy one of their phones by putting down money and then paying a portion monthly until it's paid off. For example, the Galaxy S4 is $99.99 up front, and $21/month for 20 months totaling $519.99. At the end of 20 months your bill will be reduced by $21.
- r00fus 13y agoMaybe it allows Apple to play both sides of the whole male/female marketing angle - the 5C is safe to be a bit more "feminine" while the 5S is angular and masculine.
- JTon 13y agoI agree. A lot of ladies I know were already doing this with silicone cases.
- Pxtl 13y agoIt's basically for the American market. The after-provider-subsidy price difference will appear humongous, and consumers aren't rational about provider subsidies.
- rz2k 13y agoI think it is kind of a bummer that Apple is going this route. It will be too bad if people get their first smartphone because it is $100 instead of $200, but fail to realize that they are changing their 2-year mobile phone expenses from ~$1200 to ~$2400. Illogically though, I suspect I would have less of a problem with what they are doing if they priced the 5s starting at $300.
- mikeash 13y agoWhere do you get a change from $1200 to $2400? The monthly plans cost the same, so the 5S versus 5C will cost you roughly $2300 versus $2400 over two years.
- Timothee 13y agoif people get their first smartphone I think he means from a feature-phone plan to a smartphone plan.
- mikeash 13y agoThat would explain the numbers, but I don't see the connection to the 5C's pricing, then.
- Timothee 13y agoif people get their first smartphone because it is $100 instead of $200 I.e. people are more likely to get an iPhone 5C because it's cheaper and thus "only" $99 more than the free phone they'd get otherwise. But this is not specific to the 5C, since the same scenario was in place as soon as Apple started offering two kinds of iPhones at the same time.