5C

During today’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPhone 5c was the most popular choice among new iPhone users. However, the colorful new lower-end device did not meet the company’s expectations in sales. Despite the fact that iPhone 5s sales came in above Apple’s target, the iPhone category overall significantly missed analysts’ projected sales mark of 55 million units.

It’s likely that Apple misjudged the low-end smartphone market here, believing that users would jump at the chance for a “new” iPhone at a lower price than usual. Smartphone shoppers don’t seem to be taking the bait, instead opting for the more expensive, more “premium” 5s or going elsewhere. It’s hard to say they’re making the wrong call, considering that the iPhone 5c is actually much closer in specs to the previous generation than it is to the latest model, which seems to be more than worth its $100 premium.

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Update: Best Buy is currently taking $75 off all iPhone 5s models.

Update 2:  Starting today MacMall Retail Stores will offer the iPhone 5c for $19.99 and the iPhone 5s at $119.99.

The holiday deals just keep getting better for Apple fans. Wal-Mart shoppers will be able to get the new iPhone 5c for only $27 with a new two-year contract starting this Friday. The phone typically goes for $99, putting the total discount at $72. Following the 5c’s launch earlier this year, we noted that its higher-end counterpart, the 5s, was outselling it two-to-one. It seems Wal-Mart is quite interested in moving some stock to try to even those numbers out.

Special deals on other Apple devices will be available the same day, including the iPhone 5s at $127 with a contract, a savings of—you guessed it—$72. The retailer is also planning to offer a $50 gift card with the purchase of a new iPad mini. And of course no Apple sale would be complete without discounted iTunes gift cards. A $30 card will only set you back $25 during the sale.

To keep up with all of the latest holiday sales on Apple gear and more, be sure to check out our sister site 9to5Toys, and subscribe to the new Safari push notifications feature to make sure you’re always up-to-date with the latest deals.

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When Apple launched the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c earlier this fall, the company also debuted accompanying cases. To match the plastic colors of the 5c, Apple launched a “Crocs-like” case for  the phone with holes on the back.

The iPhone 5s launched alongside a leather case in multiple colors. Now, technology writer Michael Andrew shares photos of what he claims to be a prototype version of the 5c case for the 5s.

There are, however, two crucial differences between the iPhone 5C version of the case that was meant for the iPhone 5/5S and the actual, official iPhone 5C case that was released to the public:

• Instead of the seven-by-five grid of holes that is on the back of the released iPhone 5C case, the case for the iPhone 5/5S sports a subtly different six-by-five grid of holes.
• Unlike on the iPhone 5C case, the top and bottom of the iPhone 5/5S is not protected by the silicon case.

We can’t verify that these photos represent an actual Apple prototype, but they, nonetheless, show what the 5c case would look like if designed for the 5s’s body. Another photo is below:

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is cutting component orders for the iPhone 5c by up to a third, reiterating the news that Apple is curtailing iPhone 5c production. This backs up a multitude of reports by industry analysts, which said that iPhone 5c demand is weaker than Apple’s initial expectations.

Apple told its Taiwanese assemblers Pegatron Corp. and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. that shipments of the iPhone 5C in the fourth quarter would be cut, the people said. Pegatron, which analysts say assembles two thirds of the iPhone 5Cs, was told orders would be cut by less than 20%, said a person familiar with the matter. Hon Hai, which assembles the remaining low-cost iPhones, was told orders would be cut by a third, said two people familiar with the matter.

In the past, Apple CEO Tim Cook has cautioned against supplier shipments analysis as an indicator of sales performance, saying that Apple sources components from multiple manufacturers. However, the sheer number of independent reports about cuts to iPhone 5c suggests there is some underlying truth to the story. On the flip side, iPhone 5s sales seem to be booming, doing better than predicted.

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KGI’s Mingchi Kuo, an analyst with an excellent track record, has disputed an earlier suggestion by web analytics company Localytics that the iPhone 5s is outselling the 5c three-to-one, suggesting that actual sales are closer to 50/50 – with 5c sales actually likely to be somewhat higher.

KGI estimates that the 9M initial sales comprised 3.5-4.5M iPhone 5s, and 4.5-5.5M iPhone 5c.

The confidential briefing document points out that analytics data is based on activation (or, more specifically, use of the phone to browse the web and run certain apps), which is not the same as sales. KGI’s estimates are based on production numbers … 
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How many of those 9 million first weekend sales were for the iPhone 5s vs the iPhone 5c? There’s been a lot of speculation about how many of each device Apple is selling, and whether or not lack of availability of the gold iPhone 5s is due to low supply or simply the higher demand. Apple is staying quiet on the breakdown of 5s units vs 5c, but today we get some solid insight from Localytics after the research firm tracked over 20 million unique active iPhones since launch day on Friday.

72 hours after the launch of the new devices, Localytics found that China, not the U.S., had the highest relative share of iPhone 5s vs 5c sales.

Globally an average of 78% of new iPhones sold were iPhone 5s models, while China came in at 91% 5s. It’s somewhat surprising considering analysts have largely expected the 5c to do well in China and other emerging markets, but the report speculates that the fact that gold is a popular color in the country could be driving higher demand for the 5s.That compares to the U.S. at 76% and an average of 82% in other countries. It appears the UK has the highest share of 5c sales as “the only country that didn’t have at least a 3 to 1 ratio of 5s  to 5c activations.”

Localytics also tells us that currently “the U.S. accounts for 68% of all active iPhone 5s and 5c devices worldwide, with Japan in second place with 13% of 5s and 5c’s: 
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Unlike the rest of the world, China and Hong Kong can reserve the iPhone 5s starting today. However, just minutes after the phone became available, most models and colors sold out across the country.

At the time of writing, only the 16 GB ‘space grey’ SKU’s remain available for reservation. All other models have sold out and are “currently unavailable” according to the online store. Sina reported on the phenomenon, noting that the gold model, in particular, was in high demand…
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iPhone 5s schematic, click to enlarge. 5c below

Apple has updated it guidelines (PDF) for case manufacturers to include specific requirements and schematics for the iPhone 5s and 5c. As expected, the 5s schematics are similar to the iPhone 5 since the outer shell is largely unchanged.

The 5c design is more distinct from the 5, because while the internal layout is nearly identical, the exterior plastic casing is very different. See below for the 5c’s schematics.

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Following announcements from Walmart, Radioshack and others, T-Mobile is the latest to announce availability of Apple’s recently unveiled iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. We already know the two devices will be landing on all of Apple’s major US carrier partners (as well as in a handful of other countries on Sept. 20, and T-Mobile confirmed today it will be kicking off preorders for the 5c on September 13, the preorder date previously announced by Apple. The real news here is that T-Mobile’s new Uncarrier plans mean that the iPhone 5c will sell for $0 down with the $528 price tag paid through 24 monthly installments of $22. It will also offer the iPhone 5s for $99 down and 24 monthly payments of $22.91 to make up the $649 retail price.

As a reminder, Apple and most of its partner will sell the new iPhone 5s for $199 on contract and the new iPhone 5c for $99 on contract (for the 16GB models). T-Mobile’s full retail price works about to around the same as Apple’s, but it’s 5c price is a little lower than the $549 Apple is listing. That doesn’t mean we won’t see lower prices on the device at launch. Walmart already announced that it will soon begin accepting preorders for the 5c at $79 on contract and the 5s at $189.

Apple’s new iPhones will also become available in Australia, China, Canada, Germany, France, Singapore, the UK, and Japan later this month on September 20.

A new leaked doc from Canadian carrier Telus (via MobileSyrup) shows that the carrier has plans to discontinue the iPhone 5 on September 28 just days after the next-generation iPhones are rumored to launch. Although it would lend weight to the theory that Apple could get rid of the iPhone 5 since the rumored iPhone 5S and especially the lower cost iPhone 5C are so close internally to the current device, the doc only shows that the 32GB and 64GB models will be discontinued, which might be a clue the 16GB iPhone 5 will stick around as an entry level model.

Keeping the 16GB iPhone 5 seems to line up with what we’ve been hearing at Verizon and adds even more weight to the theory that Apple will keep the iPhone 5 around as a lower cost option perhaps in between the 5S and the 5C in much the same way that the last-gen iPhone 4S currently occupies the $99/plan spot in Apple’s lineup.

On the other hand, often-accurate KGI analyst Mingchi Kuo said earlier this month that he thinks Apple will stop selling the iPhone 5 at the end of Q3 2013 and continuing selling the iPhone 4S until the end of the year.

Apple yesterday sent out invites to the September 10th event and is expected to start selling the iPhone 5S and 5C starting around the 20th of September.

Update: Similar chatter is coming out of Vodafone Germany, indicating that the 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 and 16GB iPhone 4S will soon be discontinued.

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An earlier prediction by KGI’s Mingchi Kuo that the iPhone 5C would go on sale in China by the first week in October has been contradicted by a report in First Financial Daily claiming that the approvals process needed would push the launch date back by almost two months, to 28th November …

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOhAzd0tp28]

A new video has made its way online today showing what is allegedly the rear casing of the much rumored plastic-backed, lower-cost iPhone 5C that many expect Apple to officially unveil early next month. The report from Taiwan’s Apple Daily claims to provide some precise measurements for the lower-cost iPhone. Coming in at 24.55mm x 59.13mm x 8.98mm, the iPhone 5C appears to be slightly larger than the iPhone 5 due to the plastic back. The site also put the back shells through a number of scratch resistant tests in the video above and noted that its sources claim the device will include a reinforced material that will protect from everyday wear and tear. The roughly translated report also seems to claim that the iPhone 5S, in addition to the new dual LED flash and gold color option that we previously reported, will come in 3 colors. However, it isn’t clear if it’s referring to just the White/Black and Gold, or additional colors. We’re assuming the shot of the blue iPhone 5S in the video above is for illustration purposes only. Probably.
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If the iPhone 5C is launched in China at $400, and Apple’s partnership with China Mobile for a TDD-LTE version of the handset proceeds as expected, Apple’s market share in China could jump by a massive 19.3 percent – enough to make Apple the number one seller.

The prediction, reported in Fortune, was made by Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty on the back of an AlphaWise survey of 2,000 mobile phone owners in China. Full details below … 
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Image: tested.com

One of the big question marks around the iPhone 5C – the rumored name for the mid-market plastic iPhone – is how Apple will prevent the lower-cost phone cannibalizing sales of the iPhone 5 and 5S.

One possibility is to limit sales of the 5C to emerging markets. Apple could make it available in India and China, where price is a much bigger barrier to iPhone acquisition, and withhold it from North America and Europe. That would make a great deal of sense, but is extremely unlikely and an approach Apple has ever taken before.

Analyst Gene Munster has another theory, though one just as unlikely: that the 5C will omit a key feature of present-generation iPhones: Siri.

Additionally, we believe that Apple may exclude some software features, such as Siri, which we note was not an option on the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 upon launch … 
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