Apple is set to discontinue the iPhone 5c next year, according to a new report from Taiwan’s Industrial and Commercial Times. The news outlet claims that Apple will continue producing the handsets until the middle of 2015, at which point assemblers Wistron and Foxconn will wind down production.
This news follows on the back of a similar report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that Apple will do away with both the 5c and 4s, despite both doing well in emerging markets. This is part of an effort to streamline Apple’s handset business, and will mean that all available iPhones will feature the Touch ID technology at the heart of Apple’s mobile payment ambitions.
Despite being a bold concept (and actually outselling some pretty big rival smartphones), the iPhone 5c never really did the kind of business Apple would have liked. One of the most commonly-cited criticisms is that, simply put, Apple doesn’t do cheap.
“Clearly plastic was a big part of the iPhone 5c strategy,” former Apple ad exec Ken Segall noted. “The launch ad was entitled Plastic Perfected. The launch video featured Jony Ive explaining that iPhone 5c was ‘unapologetically plastic.’ There was a strategic plan to head off the potential negative by boldly proclaiming it as a positive… Unfortunately for Apple, creativity can be a double-edged sword. The ‘unapologetically plastic’ line in the product video was so interesting and memorable, it got played back over and over in articles about the lackluster demand for iPhone 5c. Not exactly what Apple intended.”
Personally, I think the relative failure of the iPhone 5c is less to do with its cheapness, and more to do with the fact that Apple never went all the way with producing a cheap iPhone to compete with the mid-tier Android handsets on the market. Growing market share has never been Apple’s primary goal for iPhones, but the end result of the iPhone 5c was that Apple landed itself with a product that was neither a top-end flagship, nor an affordable entry level device.
Still, you can’t blame Apple for trying with its short-lived “c” series.
Via: MacRumors
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
5 responses to “Apple may stop iPhone 5c production next year”
Of course it will be discontinued. They sell the 5C, 5S, and 6, and they always drop the low end model when they introduce a new one. Put another way, the 5C is the 5, and the 5 is two years old. By next year, it will be three years old. They always sell a device for three years and then discontinue it. This has nothing to do with plastic or sales. It just fits the pattern.
Didn’t surprise me, I my personally felt that they were nuts trying to sell a plastic model that was only $100 less than the entrée level model.
The problem with the 5C is that it’s only a 32Bit model so it’s lifespan isn’t as long moving forward as the apps get updated to 64 Bit people don’t want to be kept stuck in the past with the exception of Android users.
I think the Polycarb is fine for the lower end models, but I think the colors weren’t that good. I think Apple can do better colors.
I doubt the regular consumer is as concerned about processor architecture as just having the latest device, however also believe that the polycarb was a fine material too, but don’t feel that it is worth the price especially considering a cheaper 4S is made of even finer materials with the sacrifice of device features.
I’m wondering if Apple is going to continue making 4inch models once the 5S is gone. I’m wondering if Apple is going to release a 4 inch iPhone 6S in March as the iPhone 6/6+ device sales start to slow down and then Apple might have another spike in a iPhone 6S 4inch. The might not a TON of them, but still enough to keep an increase in sales during the slower quarters until the iPhone 7/7+ come out. I’m wonder if Applie is eventually going to do lower cost PolyCarb iPhone 6/6+ when they get to the $0 contract level.