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[mrkgoo]

Yup, people do seem to gloss over Apple's failures a lot. Does anyone remember the tiny shuffle?

Oh man, I LOVED that shuffle. It was kind of useless to me, but I wanted one. I still kicked myself for not picking up the limited edition stainless steel one just to have.

One store here still sells the retail ones as new, lol. At full price. That is, more expensive than current shuffles. Lol.


Anyway henrygale puts it best - the iPhone 5c is selling more than the iphone 5 would be I reckon, and that's the point.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

never forget.

This was my facebook banner for a while. So fucking hilarious that someone writing ad copy got paid to use the phrase "since time immemorial." They weren't even trying.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

Seriously. I never understood this thing. It needed to be the free phone on contract for it to be successful. The price difference is pretty much negligible between the 5S if you are interested in spending money on a smartphone. You either get a phone that has half or less the power (which you're going to have live with for at least 18 months), less features, and a cheap build quality for a $100 difference. Not very attractive unless you really like the colored plastic.

Did you make this argument this time last year about the 4S?

 

[subrock]

Apple doesn't discount their products (except for a limited Thanksgiving sale which never include the iPhone) and maintain strong price controls on their products. Most US retailers aren't happy to engage in iPhone price wars or use it for door busters.

Please show the results of more googling. Would be very interested in links for Target, Best Buy and Walmart offering discounts within a month of a new iPhone release.

Well, theres the one I posted above, also:

http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/mob...ne-ipod-and-macbook-black-friday-deals-023062

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/us-virgin-mobile-iphone-4s-16-gig-no-contract-500-target-1249548/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...ne-5-in-alaska-on-september-28-171633791.html

http://www.cellphones.ca/news/iphone-5-and-ipad-4-get-huge-price-cuts-at-walmart/

 

[border]

Probably already been said, but the people at Apple are morons as well? They're the ones that are cutting the production of them in half.

They needed to produce a lot more for the launch period than they do once all the launch demand has been satisfied. Production would probably be expected to ramp down for a non-flagship phone.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Lol, try again. The iPhone 4 was over a year old on Oct 7th, 2011. that was before the iPhone 4S dropped.

Nope, it works. iPhone 5C is designed to freshen up the middle spot in the line-up, previously occupied by last year's model. They decided that selling the 'old' phone with a tweaked aesthetic might lead to (even) better sales for the mid-tier, and if that turns out to be the case, it's been a success.

 

[mcfrank]

Guys, this shit happens every year

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/12/20/apple-do-iphone-5-production-cuts-suggest-soft-demand/

Reports from this time last year about iPhone production being cut. It wasnt true. Was the iPhone 5 a flop? No of course not. Stop taking these reports at face value.

Quoting myself for the new page because I am sick of people taking these reports at face value.

Every year the iPhone gets discounted and every year people speculate that it means low sales

Every year there are reports that get repeated until people think they are true that Apple cut iPhone orders.

And every year iPhone sales are really good and Tim Cook gets on the conference call and tells reporters to stop believing these "supply chain" checks which always turn out to be false.

 

[LCfiner]

Apple overestimated their own popularity.

they didn’t overestimate the popularity of the 5S, though. their popularity is just fine.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Quoting myself for the new page because I am sick of people taking these reports at face value.

Every year the iPhone gets discounted and every year people speculate that it means low sales

Every year there are reports that get repeated until people think they are true that Apple cut iPhone orders.

And every year iPhone sales are really good and Tim Cook gets on the conference call and tells reporters to stop believing these "supply chain" checks which always turn out to be false.

Yep. Like clockwork. Or reports of the IMMINENT Apple television set.

But...short attention spans / lack of research / confirmation bias.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

It's a good idea but a failure in execution. Too expensive to be a budget phone, and the colors were too pastel. A little bolder colors, i.e. a more blatant ripoff of Nokia would have helped Apple out more.

 

[subrock]

Lol, try again. The iPhone 4 was over a year old on Oct 7th, 2011. that was before the iPhone 4S was released. Carriers typically try and clear stock before Apple announces the price drop (else they paid Apple for a phone when it was $650 and now have to sell it at $550)

yes, 2011, when the 4s was released, so the 4 was a year old. Just like in 2012 when the 4s was a year old. This is what we are talking about aren't we? The year old phone getting a deeper discount from retailers?

 

[GSG Flash]

they didn’t overestimate the popularity of the 5S, though. their popularity is just fine.

Well... that's not what I said

They thought it being an Apple iPhone was enough to get people to buy it in droves, obviously the iPhone, in general, is still popular, just not as popular as Apple thinks it is.

 

[mcfrank]

Well... that's not what I said

They thought it being an Apple iPhone was enough to get people to buy it in droves, obviously the iPhone, in general, is still popular, just not as popular as Apple thinks it is.

You have no idea how popular Apple thinks the iPhone is, and you have no idea if this report is actually true. Judging by history, it probably isnt.

 

[Blackhead]

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/14/business/la-fi-tn-iphone-5-walmart-sales-20121214

There is Walmart discounting the iPhone 5 (the flagship iPhone at the time) 3 months after release and a similar amount of sales consternation.

Well, theres the one I posted above, also:

http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/mob...ne-ipod-and-macbook-black-friday-deals-023062

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/us-virgin-mobile-iphone-4s-16-gig-no-contract-500-target-1249548/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...ne-5-in-alaska-on-september-28-171633791.html

http://www.cellphones.ca/news/iphone-5-and-ipad-4-get-huge-price-cuts-at-walmart/

The Walmart link is from december. Do you really not understand the difference between sales during the Thanskgiving/Christmas period and sales two weeks after launch in October?

subrock the other two of your links are for prepaid carriers. They have a different price structure.

yes, 2011, when the 4s was released, so the 4 was a year old. Just like in 2012 when the 4s was a year old. This is what we are talking about aren't we? The year old phone getting a deeper discount from retailers?

No, it was still the main phone at the time.

 

[mcfrank]

The Walmart link is from december. Do you really not understand the difference between sales during the Thanskgiving/Christmas period and sales two weeks after launch in October?

subrock the rest of your links are for prepaid carriers. They have a different price structure.

Lots of links already to the $99 iPhone being discounted early and often by retailers in the past.

 

[GSG Flash]

You have no idea how popular Apple thinks the iPhone is, and you have no idea if this report is actually true. Judging by history, it probably isnt.

I think the initial high price of the 5C gives us a pretty good idea of how popular Apple thinks the iPhone brand is.

Of course, I'm assuming this story is true. Whether it's true or not is another matter entirely.

 

[Blackhead]

Lots of links already to the $99 iPhone being discounted early and often by retailers in the past.

Nope, you haven't posted a link from Walmart, Best Buy, Target discounting the $99 iPhone this early after release.

 

[subrock]

The Walmart link is from december. Do you really not understand the difference between sales during the Thanskgiving/Christmas period and sales two weeks after launch in October?

subrock the other two of your links are for prepaid carriers. They have a different price structure.



No, it was still the main phone at the time.

Cool so you don't want to investigate at all on your own and you are going to shoot down everything I post on a technicality? Why are we discussing this again?

 

[TheDrowningMan]

It's also very possible that the extremely limited 5s stock is playing a part in discounts arriving a few weeks early. There have always been shortages, but not to this extent; they want to sell iPhones, but they're getting less stock than ever and perhaps, therefore, being super-aggressive with the 5C, which - like the 3GS, 4 and 4S a year after release - isn't going to be the most tempting to early adopters.

 

[Blackhead]

Cool so you don't want to investigate at all on your own and you are going to shoot down everything I post on a technicality? Why are we discussing this again?

... if you can't evidence to support your bold claim why should I do the hard work for you? I investigated your first link, it wasn't accurate. I won't waste more time here, you can carry on.

 

[diaspora]

good

its disgusting that this even exists. iphones are classy premium products. if you want to go for the cheap market go make some trashy android clones


tim cook should be caned for trying to soil steve's iphone

Apple just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about Apple culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is with Android where you can become successful by being cheap. If you devalue your Apple product, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is Apple fans, after hearing about this, are not going to want to purchase iPhones, nor will they purchase any of Apple's products. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Apple has alienated an entire market with this move.

Apple, publicly apologize and cancel the iPhone 5C or you can kiss your business goodbye.

 

[Animator]

This was my facebook banner for a while. So fucking hilarious that someone writing ad copy got paid to use the phrase "since time immemorial." They weren't even trying.

Can't wait to see what bullshit marketing Apple will come up with when they release a 5"+ screen iPhone.

 

[mcfrank]

Nope, you haven't posted a link from Walmart, Best Buy, Target discounting the $99 iPhone this early after release.

So we show a ton of evidence that there have been lots of sales on iPhones within a few months of release (or a price drop) and you say, no not the same thing because it wasn't these exact retailers and it wasn't exactly this same amount of time... That is pretty silly.

Discounts on iPhones shortly after launch has been proven to have happened in the past.

False reports of Apple Production cuts have been proven to have happened in the past.

Logic would therefore dictate that the iPhone 5C is probably selling fine, just like past phones.

 

[Ecotic]

When the 5C was rumored before its announcement I couldn't believe that with all the talent that Apple must hire that a slightly cheaper iPhone was the best idea they had. Apple has suffered for years now because they refuse to make a larger screen iPhone and the answer was staring them in the face.

I don't know why they just won't do it.

 

[tino]

I really don't like the colors. They are so much worse than older iPod colors.

 

[mcfrank]

When the 5C was rumored before its announcement I couldn't believe that with all the talent that Apple must hire that a slightly cheaper iPhone was the best idea they had. Apple has suffered for years now because they refuse to make a larger screen iPhone and the answer was staring them in the face.

I don't know why they just won't do it.

Apple’s 2012 profit crushed the combined profits of Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay


Apple suffering?

 

[subrock]

In light of the lack of carbon copy evidence that anything similar to the current discount of the year's old iPhone has ever happened, I proclaim:

Apple has egg on their face for producing such a silly phone that wasn't cheap enough (like they said it would be) and that without Steve Jobs they have finally made a drastic blunder that will surely lead to their demise and subsequent seppuku during their investors call on the 28th.

You had an okay run Apple, but you really fucked the pooch on this one.

 

[mcfrank]

In light of the lack of carbon copy evidence that anything similar to the current discount of the year's old iPhone has ever happened, I proclaim:

Apple has egg on their face for producing such a silly phone that wasn't cheap enough (like they said it would be) and that without Steve Jobs they have finally made a drastic blunder that will surely lead to their demise and subsequent seppuku during their investors call on the 28th.

You had an okay run Apple, but you really fucked the pooch on this one.

With writing like that, I predict you will have a fine career at Business Insider and as a Forbes Contributor.

 

[Blackhead]

So we show a ton of evidence that there have been lots of sales on iPhones within a few months of release (or a price drop) and you say, no not the same thing because it wasn't these exact retailers and it wasn't exactly this same amount of time... That is pretty silly.

Discounts on iPhones shortly after launch has been proven to have happened in the past.

There is a difference between "a few months" and a few weeks. You have not proven that discounts have happened "shortly" after launch.

False reports of Apple Production cuts have been proven to have happened in the past.

Logic would therefore dictate that the iPhone 5C is probably selling fine, just like past phones.

I don't actually disagree with this. I don't know why you're putting the two together. No need for revisionist history just to defend Apple.

 

[mcfrank]

There is a difference between "a few months" and a few weeks. You have not proven that discounts have happened "shortly" after launch.

I don't actually disagree with this. I don't know why you're putting the two together. No need for revisionist history just to defend Apple.

The iPhone 4S came out Oct 14th, so some of those links were a lot closer to a few weeks if they are in November.

 

[flyover]

Anyway henrygale puts it best - the iPhone 5c is selling more than the iphone 5 would be I reckon, and that's the point.

Yeah. Seems that's the whole reason they made it: sell the same or more units of a phone that costs the same or less to make. Bonus: you make consumers happier with their purchase (leading to more future sales, hopefully), because they're getting a "new" model, and not last years.

Also think it will be very popular -- much more so than the 5 would've been -- come Christmastime.

 

[subrock]

With writing like that, I predict you will have a fine career at Business Insider and as a Forbes Contributor.

I wanted to fit in something about a larger screen but I couldn't think of a way to make is sound catastrophic enough for them.

 

[RastaMentality]

Apple just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about Apple culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is with Android where you can become successful by being cheap. If you devalue your Apple product, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is Apple fans, after hearing about this, are not going to want to purchase iPhones, nor will they purchase any of Apple's products. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Apple has alienated an entire market with this move.

Apple, publicly apologize and cancel the iPhone 5C or you can kiss your business goodbye.

This is really dramatic.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

Can't wait to see what bullshit marketing Apple will come up with when they release a 5"+ screen iPhone.

Ever since man first looked up into the sky, he has tried to reach the stars. Humanity has left the bonds of its mother Earth, and even stepped onto the moon... but never has there been an iPhone with a screen larger than five inches across. Our engineers have worked tirelessly to buy bigger screens to display your apps. Your photos. Your videos. And even... your music. The mighty Pharoahs once tried to build taller pyramids in which to bury their honored dead. Now, you can store your honored content on the biggest iPhone screens available.

Sometimes it's not enough to just make a bigger screen. Sometimes... you have to believe in a bigger screen.

 

[zoukka]

Overpriced phones don't sell? I'm shocked.

Yeah... overpriced phones have never sold much lol.

 

[Floex]

Knock £100 off and they'll sell like gangbusters.

 

[LCfiner]

This is really dramatic.

you’re new. it’s a Gaf thing. it works. trust me.

 

[Nicktendo86]

you’re new. it’s a Gaf thing. it works. trust me.

Its not as funny as it used to be

 

[KHarvey16]

You either get a phone that has half or less the power (which you're going to have live with for at least 18 months), less features, and a cheap build quality for a $100 difference. Not very attractive unless you really like the colored plastic.

What phone are you talking about?

 

[Ecotic]

Apple’s 2012 profit crushed the combined profits of Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay


Apple suffering?

Absolutely, because it's a lost opportunity no matter how well they're doing at the moment. You can always make more, instead of ceding market share to Android devices.

 

[mcfrank]

Absolutely, because it's a lost opportunity no matter how well they're doing at the moment. You can always make more, instead of ceding market share to Android devices.

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”

- Steve Jobs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8eP99neOVs - Skip to 90 seconds into that video for more if you want to know what Steve Jobs thought about articles like some of this.

Edit - That said, I think Apple will have a larger phone eventually.

 

[royalan]

Oh well. Still incredibly happy with my 5c. Don't regret the purchase at all. 100 bucks well saved.

Besides, I'm still convinced that the 5C is going to make up for its less-than-stellar start with longevity. We'll see when the holidays hit. That's when I expect the 5C to become really attractive.

Besides, 11 million units in 3 months? Most phone makers would kill for that kind of "failure."

 

[RevoDS]

They never did but changing the casing to plastic back, tweaking some of the parts to be cheaper then only knocking a few quid off the price feels wrong in my books.

Pretty sure then the 4S came out the original 4 was left untouched and dropped with a bigger price difference, same with 4S to 5.

You would be wrong on that. Back when the iPhone 4 was introduced, it was a 16/32gb device. It's only when the 4S came out that they made an 8gb model for the very purpose of selling it cheaper.

 

[Technosteve]

Apple is doomed

 

[potam]

No shit? Hmmm...pay $100 less than the 5s for a downgrade from the 5?

 

[royalan]

No shit? Hmmm...pay $100 less than the 5s for a downgrade from the 5?

How is the 5c a downgrade from the 5? The insides are the exact same or slightly improved from what's in the 5.

And, believe it or not, but some people actually prefer the 5c's aesthetic. I know I do.

 

[coldfoot]

How is the 5c a downgrade from the 5? The insides are the exact same or slightly improved from what's in the 5.

And, believe it or not, but some people actually prefer the 5c's aesthetic. I know I do.

Thicker heavier, not as expensive - jewelry like looking

 

[dose]

Was going cheap a mistake?

Lol cheap? Seriously?

 

[royalan]

Thicker heavier, not as expensive - jewelry like looking

But that's not an automatic downgrade. As I said, not only do a lot of people prefer how the 5C looks, you can go to the 5C thread and see that the thickness and weight of the 5C has led to a lot of people thinking it's a lot more comfortable to hold than the 5S.

 

[Noisepurge]

Now if only they would sell it here in Europe...