Peak Apple: Has ANYONE at all ordered a new iPhone 5c? Apple has failed to disclose the sales figures for its new iPhone for the first time since 2009, sending fanbois and investors into a spiral of doubt and fear. The fruity firm normally thrusts upon the world a boastful press release announcing how many gazillions of new iMobes ordered even before the things have hit the …
You would have to WANT a Nexus 4 first. Most people choose iOS whereas they get given Android by the shop assistant when upgrading and they barely use it's features. Look at the iOS vs Android usage / web figures and despite a smaller installed base the iOS usage is much higher.
Face it if there were equivalent Apple iOS and Somename Android handsets at the same price few would buy Android - it's like saying if an equivalent Skoda and BMW were the same price people would buy the Skoda.
"Face it if there were equivalent Apple iOS and Somename Android handsets at the same price few would buy Android "
Which is exactly why Apple are outselling Samsung Galaxy S3/S4's...... oh, err...
Have you ever thought that there is more to using a smartphone than web browsing?
Anyone who would walk into a shop, take a look at the Fisher-Price OS running on yellow plastic phone and choose that over a HTC One, Xperia Z1 or S4 is an idiot.
"Which is exactly why Apple are outselling Samsung Galaxy S3/S4's...... oh, err..."
Actually Apple iPhones are very likely outselling S3/S4's. Samsung are shipping more smartphones than Apple (they only figures they provide - and these are sales into channel - which is likely to be slightly inflated as compared with Apple's sales figures for reasons I won't go into now), but they steadfastly refuse to provide the breakdown between the premium Galaxy line and their non-premium lines.
If the Galaxy S3/S4 were selling more than the iPhone you can be pretty sure they would be telling the world. So most analysts agree there is only likely to be one reason they are keeping mum...
AC says: Which is exactly why Apple are outselling Samsung Galaxy S3/S4's...... oh, err...
While I agree Android devices (over all models) outsell the iPhone, The Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 have not outsold the iPhone. Stop living in your dreamworld of unicorns and rainbows.
Unicorns and Rainbows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRC4Vk6kisY
Apple iPhone owners and BMW Drivers. What a mixture.
A combination of people who own iPhones because their friends do and have no idea how to actually use it and people who pay £40k for a car and have no idea how to use it (you'll never convince me that either BMW don't fit indicators or that so many stop working 10 minutes after leaving the showroom),
Apple iPhone owners and BMW Drivers. What a mixture.
Well, to be fair, iPhones and BMWs are very similar. Both are average equipment sold at inflated prices because of their logos, and bought by people who believe that owning them will make them cooler and more attractive to the gender of their choice.
"Well, to be fair, iPhones and BMWs are very similar. Both are average equipment sold at inflated prices because of their logos, and bought by people who believe that owning them will make them cooler and more attractive to the gender of their choice."
Or, to put it another way: "I buy, guided by plain ignorance and prejudice, salted with being a bit hard up and have never bought or driven either of them and I despise those who do, because I am bitter, twisted and jealous, oh, and really cool too because I follow the crowd."
Never mind. One day you too will be a grown up.
> Or, to put it another way: "I buy, guided by plain ignorance and prejudice
Neither product is really that exclusive despite fanboy cries to the contrary. It's not that hard to have solid experience with either. Apple phones are just as subsidized as Androids. They aren't any more expensive. BMWs can be test driven or rented.
Both are consumer brands with an inflated sense of self-importance.
Both are like Cleveland.
Not sure about this - I bought my Samsung S3 for £230, was a refurbished model but effectively new (last year). Are you telling me refurbished iPhone 5's were being sold for anywhere near this price? Or even used ones on eBay?
The sim-free prices are similar, but if you look at contract prices there are some amazing deals to be had on Android phones, just look on phone deal comparison sites. iPhones - not a chance.
I'm guessing you've never spent the time driving a BMW long enough to actually get to know it if you describe them as average? Either that or you don't understand what the term "average" means?
Take a 3 series out and link a few corners together and if you're skillful enough you might understand, the only car in its class that comes close is the Mondeo (awesome car), but then some people prefer rear wheel drive which the Mondeo it not.
BMW driver, Android user FWIW.
(you'll never convince me that either BMW don't fit indicators or that so many stop working 10 minutes after leaving the showroom)
That behaviour isn't limited to BMW drivers, sadly. Heaven knows how these people master their stratospherically-sophisticated phones when they can't even work out what the little lever sticking out of the stearing column is for. BMW drivers may be a particularly virulent instance of the phenomenon, however. It was a man in a BMW who castigated me yesterday for crossing a side street down which he intended to turn. He had given no indication of his intention, obviously expecting me to read his mind (assuming he had one).
I have used iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 and I would rank iOS at the bottom with Android at the top and WP8 second. That's objective too. iOS is a bit Fisher / Katie Price. It's ok if you don't want any flexibility or freedom. Android is the more flexible and the only one that truly lives up to Apple's once-famous, "there's an app for that". WP8 is sandboxed too, but I find it refreshing.
iOS : think SAME.
Which feature would that be? A software keyboard that swiftly turns english into compete gibberish?
I never thought using a pen to write on a device using handwriting recognition would be faster and more accurate than typing on the same device.
(I have an iPhone and a Note 2 - I get *so* frustrated with the Note's keyboard it's untrue. Once you've got used to typing on an iOS device, Android just seems to be frustrating.)
I have an iPhone 3GS (retired), an iPad 2 (used virtually exclusively for looking at A4 education books), a Nexus 7 (used frequently) & a work Nokia Lumia 820 under WP but my main much used phone is an original Note from December 2011 (soon to be replaced by a Note 3).
Why do you stick with the keyboard on the Note 2 as delivered as you can switch for free to an alternative?
Typing is a dream using swipe on Swiftkey, so good I detest now the clunky unchangeable oh-so-slow iPad keyboard.
I really really want to like Apple but iOS is so inflexible in so many areas.
The keyboard is the keyboard, great I can split it or use it portrait or landscape but that is about it. I don't care about the colour of a keyboard or whether lower case letters are visible etc, but I do like swiping and intelligent predictions as they make typing quicker and more accurate, others may not like this, but in the droid universe you have the choice.
Doubt they are interested in a just a good telephone. For a decent 'phone they would buy an old, low end Nokia. Lasts for years, long battery life, first class telephone reception and never needs updating.
No, they are double posers: phone as big as the oversize pocket in their oversize trousers that is cool because it is not an iPhone and they paid a cheapskate price to get it (well, it was a wonderful offer, along with the unwanted tablet given away so the salesman could shift the wretched things before the next model appears).
All the Android phones I have bought have been awful phones not good enough battery life. I try and get the better built ones. Googles Nexus stuff cuts too many corners for me in terms of quality.
I think I will get an ipad when the ones that support the gamepad come out.
(Got two Android tablet and never use them. Nexus 7 is a downgrade in build quality from the Xoom).
And stick with my Lumia 800 which is just great in terms of not running out of battery / being able to text no matter how much I have drunk with no mistakes / offline reliable satnav. (Build quality is great as well after the amount of time an Android phone ends up scrap for me it is still great).
If Android users cared about having a phone they would want the battery to last reasonably. (Judging by the sales it is not a concern - Razr Maxx would be the best selling handset if that was the case).
Wrong. When I last upgraded my phone, I had an ageing iPhone 3G (which I had admittedly been happy with). My choices were the iPhone 4S or the Galaxy S3 (the two flagships at the time). I bought the Galaxy S3 because it had a larger and superior res screen, expandable memory, a "back" button that doesn't rely on using up valuable screen space, gadgets on the OS, a far superior notification panel and no reliance on god-awful iTunes. Whilst it's true that some cheaper Android handsets are sold to people who choose them because they can't afford iPhones, most of the higher-end Galaxy, HTC One, Z4 etc. handsets are sold to people who genuinely prefer them over an iPhone and who consider them to be the superior handsets.
"Whilst it's true that some cheaper Android handsets are sold to people who choose them because they can't afford iPhones, most of the higher-end Galaxy, HTC One, Z4 etc. handsets are sold to people who genuinely prefer them over an iPhone and who consider them to be the superior handsets."
There are lots of other reasons why people might choose one handset over another, whether it's the perceived image of the phone or that their friends and family use the same one.
Part of my reason for using an iPhone is that many of my friends and colleagues also have one. My best friend, in particular, lives on the other side of the pond, so it's nice to be able to contact him on face time!
But another issue for me was my perception of different handsets based on who I see using them around and about. The HTC One, for example, tends to be associated with the local chav-scum who see fit to inflict their crap taste in music on everyone who passes in their vicinity... a superior handset, indeed, for people who have no respect or consideration for other people!
Eh up chaps and chapesses, this is how to Troll. A fine example of trying to stir up a nest of fanbois and android users.
Reg lesson 101 on how to start an argument.
1. Be anonymous.
2. State that the iOS is better and Apple are more expensive for good reason, if they were the same price blah blah blah. yawn...
Reg, can we have a better troll icon, took me a while to find it. What about the ones from the HTC add or the thing you put on the end of pencils?
Having had to use an Android (HTC Desire X) for a week because my iPhone was off for repairs (our baby slobbered into the charging socket and her drool is corrosive like Alien(tm) slime) I can understand these figures - it was HORRIBLE! I was SO happy to get my iPhone back.
Here we go again, Fandroid Fury, when everyone knows they all aspire to own an iPhone, iPad and Mac Book.
As to the reason why they are used more to access the web, firstly Apple owners are more affluent and can afford it, secondly there is every chance a nasty bit of malware is hiding in an Android handset so the risk of using it is too great.
Wow, you really are deluded, aren't you?
Do you really believe that everybody in the world, who owns an Android phone, actually wanted an iPhone but is too poor to buy one?
As for the only reason iPhones are browsing is because their owners can afford it, that just beggars belief. Never heard of wi-fi or unlimited data plans?
You're either a troll or an idiot, I'll go with idiot, and a cowardly one too.
So you dumped it? Funny, last night a young bloke who uses his Samsung as his business mobile was fuming about its inadequacy and about to dump it. His friend in another firm was surprised as he had got not problems with his iPhone. I suppose it depends upon the usage.
As for Macs: I am a UNIX specialist, a real one who uses the command line frequently and works with serious, heavy duty UNIX and Linux systems. I abandoned Linux at home once I got OSX (well, still got it in a VM) because OSX is just a better, more reliable UNIX implementation with more tools installed as standard and fewer panics. Well, no panics.
is worth more because you use a command prompt.
You've used the Uber-Nerd trump card.
"I'm a proper fan, I have all their early albums! Not like these new fans....."
I have NO iphone / Mac envy. I even have a Mac Mini (so I'm not a proper Mac user) that just sits on my desk gathering dust because for the life of me, I cannot see how it is superior to a PC running WIndows XP let alone 7 or 8. I TRY to find uses for it. Uhm... it looks nice? It's the only thing I'd inflict iTunes on.... OSX just reminds me of GEM Desktop......
That's funny thinking that using the command line makes you special. Well guess what, it may very well be that you are using some of my code when you are in that command line. I've also worked on the kernal and drivers for two of the biggest commercial Unix vendors so you'll be using some of my code there as well.
So I guess that makes me a bigger Unix nerd than you and I can't stand OSx, it's the worst current consumer OS out there. It seems designed to make sure nothing get's done, but then maybe mac owners don't have any real work to do so it doesn't bother them much.
"That's funny thinking that using the command line makes you special. Well guess what, it may very well be that you are using some of my code when you are in that command line. I've also worked on the kernal and drivers for two of the biggest commercial Unix vendors so you'll be using some of my code there as well.
So I guess that makes me a bigger Unix nerd than you"
...Wow an AC kernel dev who can't spell kernel, legit.
Interesting that. I used Unix a lot in the 1980s and found that "Kernel" was so often spelt "Kernal" in the documentation that I concluded it must be a deliberate spelling. I took that as evidence that the poster was actually pukka.
It's like us old guys that spell out S Q L because we can remember SEQL, and won't pronounce Linux "linnux" because in the past it could be confused with "Linx".
so as someone who also dumped Linux (Ubuntu in my case) as a desktop and also uses the command line extensively (fancy an awk competition?) I'm down voting this as it's unfair to say Linux has many Kernel panics -it doesn't on decent hardware. In fact my Macbook Pro (which has died very infrequently) is still probably less stable than my Centos/Ubntu VMs....
Dom
This post has been deleted by its author
What? That someone can precis a much longer analysis in a way that is immediately understandable to the average English speaker? Perhaps with the surname "Lars" you are not familiar with the more recondite versions of our language, or the importance assigned to being able to provide accurate insults in as short a message as possible.
(It always amuses me when Putin, Leningrad law graduate and fluent in several languages, manages to summarise his meaning in a pithy colloquial Russian expression, while Western politicians all seem to scrabble not to say anything clearly. OK, he may be an evil near-dictator (which I doubt quite a lot, in fact) but he is a class act.)
Silly boy. I own 4 Macs, but I choose to use a droid phone, because believe it or not it syncs more seamlessly with my Macs for how I use them without having to pay extra for the privilege.
As far as I can tell affluence has no bearing on web use. Web use is practically free thanks to WiFi and huge dirt cheap data plans. Perhaps people who chose not to buy an iPhone didn't place too much importance on web browsing from their phones, or more likely they're not using browsers at all with the bulk of their interaction being carried out through dedicated apps - Facebook, Twitter, G+, YouTube, Ebay et al.
The only real reason I can see why somebody would genuinely +choose+ an iOS device over a competitor OS is that they prefer the OS/GUI itself - or as is probably the case with a lot of users, they're fairly technologically illiterate so just believe all of the marketing hype. The reason I use Macs is that I prefer OSX (although I am using Linux in VMs more and more as OSX 10.7 and 10.8 have been god-awful, but I digress) and the reason I use Android is that I find it a more intuitive and customisable platform. As with anything in this field YMMV and we all have different criteria by which we judge the usefulness and quality of a device (or piece of software). The technically savvy amongst us never tend to make such distinctions purely from a fanboi perspective for any company's offerings.
I would have thought the main reason most people choose iOS is not because of the UI or OS, but simply because the phone looks a lot nicer physically (and of course the marketing).
The majority of techies seem to be buying Android, but there are a lot of smart non-techies out there that are choosing Apple for their own reasons.
If you have the money, and don't want anything sophisticated from a phone, then surely it makes sense just to buy the best looking one out there?
I believe it was iPhone that spent several years recording GPS coordinates in a plain text file and refusing to apply fine-grained permissions.
Plus, the knowledge that Android has malware means most sensible users have some kind of anti-malware/virus software running and so are pretty safe. On iOS there is the same issue with malware but the users all think "I'm safe, it's Apple" and run with no protection or fear, making them far more vulnerable.
Also, much of it is social-engineering malware that runs on either platform and is picked up on Android by said software yet goes unnoticed by the naive iOS users - making them more vulnerable.
No, they're not. and that has a reason:
The iPhone 5C can only go on the market in relevant numbers when enough people have bought an iPhone 5S and traded in their iPhone 5 for $149,- . These then have to be stripped of their posh housing and re-fabricated with the Fisher-Price*-design housing, re-flashed and reshipped to the shops for $450,-.
So the 5C relies on the sales of the 5S and leftover stocks of the 5.
I made that up, of course, but wouldn't put it past them.
*Fisher-Price, with their experience in infant and baby toys, have been advertising this-that-and-the-other -free plastics for years. They also have all the toddler-soothing colours figured out. I'm sure there's some synergistic cooperation going.
I know I'm going to get downvoted for this, but WTF.
Apple normally issue two press releases for the launch of a new product. One for pre-orders and one for launch weekend.
Previously pre-orders have sold out in around 24-48 hours, at which point there's no point in delaying the press release.
This time, pre-orders have not yet sold out (looking at the Apple website, you can still order any 5c for delivery on the 20th).
So far, so good.
However, we have a big unknown in this mix: How many have they made for pre-order?
Anyone?
There's an unstated assumption that they have the same number of handsets available for pre-order as they have had in previous years (normally around 2m), but given that the 5c is essentially a 5 in a party frock, it's entirely possible they have 30m or 100m available for pre-order.
And that /could/ be the reason why they haven't sold out and also why we haven't had a press release. We'll have to wait until next week to get a better idea,
Press release will appear after the 5S has gone on sale and be a combined total, they don't break down sales by individual model, no one does, that's pretty rare as it tells the competition exactly what's selling. in fact some companies don't release sales data at all beyond what's required for financial filings.
csumpi, you've failed at showing the citation required. The claim is iPhone sales are down. The alleged proof of this remains missing... even with your attempt to be funny. The share price says nothing about sales.
This story isnt even a case of "Dog bites man" Its "Dog doesnt bite man, so the dog must be dead".
There is nothing wrong with plastic as a build material. Apple and other manufacturers only use aluminium (and occasionally things like bamboo, carbon fibre etc.) as an excuse to jack up the price. It certainly doesn't do anything for the phone itself since the antenna and other parts have to be shielded and it can affect reception.
And perhaps that is the problem here. A plastic phone occupying the same price point that used to ensure aluminium. Apple have been bitten by their own "expensive" gimmick.
It probably can't help either that the market is awash with high quality handsets for substantially less money than an iPhone. e.g. if someone wants a gaudy handset then Nokia has them covered for far less money than a 5C would set them back.
The 5c is basically "last year's model at a lower price", only now in shiny plastic. They've never offered pre-order figures for last year's model, why the hell would they?
This year's isn't available for pre-order, so there are no figures. (Does seem like they're short of them - which is annoying, since I need one to test some code against 64bit iOS - looks like I might end up in the chump queue.)
Dear oh Dear, You sir sound like a typical Apple fanbois, This was announced by Apple as one of 2 new phones not as a continuation of lst years in a cheap body.
Therefore the story is correct that they would have announced figures normally and therefore calling into question if sales have been poor, this is the same concern of share holders who are selling.
Now just calm down and strock your old shiney and everything wil be ok......
Normally Apple sells the previous years iPhone at a reduced price. They are selling the 5c at the price they would have charged for the 5. And since the 5c is cheaper to make than the 5, their profit margin is higher. I would not be surprised if they make more profit off of each 5c they sell compared to the 5s.
People buy Apple phones because they look expensive. For some reason they have now made one that looks cheap. Phones that look cheap are only of interest to people who are trying to save money, or who are more interested in function than form. Those people are already buying Android phones, and are not going to switch.
"People buy Apple phones because they look expensive"
I think what you mean is that some for some people they are expensive and therefore they consider them as being luxury items, when in fact they have very little intrinsic value. It's more of a wishfull thinking phenomena than anything else.
Hence the existance of fanbois...
I don't think it's so much as embarrassing or an admission of failure. Why? Not everything pushed out there will be successful, or as successful as hoped and Apple have made quite a few of these in the past.
It's not that the iPhone 5C is looking like a bad phone, but it's disappointing that it's touted as new device despite being effectively the same as the previous one but in a different cover as there's the natural distrust and bad feeling when coming across something that's essentially just repackaged but sold at a premium as if it were new. More importantly the market was hoping for a cheaper device that would help Apple make inroads into territories where Jo Public doesn't have a huge stash of cash to spend on luxury devices.
I think the issue is that Apple make so few models to begin with that the failure of one of them *is* significant. A company like Samsung probably churns out 20 or 30 phone models a year so if a few of them are duds nobody cares. But if Apple only produces 2 phones, and one of them is a dud then it's a big deal.
What apple actually need is to get into the furniture business and produce the iOS Desk. A full size desk that is all desktop from edge to edge, at typical table resolution with all touch. It's the paperless office come true, sync all your documents through the cloud to your tablet or MacBook.
We've all been dreaming of this for the last 30 years, about time someone makes it.
I probably couldn't affoard it but at least I would want one. Maybe Samsung will make it first?
> Not sure if you are trolling, but Samsung already have. Its the SUR40 and runs Windows.
That's the thing about things not Apple. If you've imagined it, chances are there's someone out there already making and a whole community of enthusiasts that will declare you late to the party.
They seem to complement the I-Pod Touches pretty well and, like the rest of that range, Apple still seems to be selling enough of them to keep them in stock. I guess we'll find out over the next month or so.
Meanwhile in other not really interesting news: I actually saw a Windows Phone in the flesh at the weekend. It was in the hands of an Android developer who'd bought one specifically because he has his hands in Android all the time. But still: a sale is a sale.
You'll find Windows phones around here. Much prefer my HTC 8X to my old iPhone 3S and the 5 which work supplied me with. T'other half would need her Nokia 720 prying from her cold, dead hands. Oh, the monthly charge is much lower too.
My boss dotes (in a rather worrying fashion to be honest) on his helipad sized Galaxy - far preferring it to his old iPhone. We're serious Mac users, not Apple haters, but just find the phones a bit lacking these days.
I've got a huff on with the Apple partly because the wonderful arrangement of iPhone, Macbook Pro, Mac Pro and Mobile Me worked so very, very well.
Heck I was even suggesting such systems as workable solutions for SMEs.
Then the Apple, for whatever reason(s), decided to outmode those methodologies for favour of alternative iCloud. The hardware was fine - super really - but had operational methods made unworkable?
What I found strange was not that they finally added colours but that they chose such hideous ones: the pink in particular was clearly meant to be red....
If I was buying a 5C (they would need to come down £100) I'd get White with a White case.
Every other colour and case combo looks like a child's toy.
Friend has a 3GS still going strong although he's going to upgrade to get a better camera mainly. My 3GS is now on it's 3rd owner and still going strong but cannot say the same for the graveyard of old Android phones we have in the office that no longer get updates / cannot be updated / have no value or were broken beyond repair.
At least as recently as a few weeks ago you could buy a new iPhone 4 (or if you preferred a 4s) on contract from Carphone Warehouse.
Given how long it has been since the 4 was Apple's top handset I'd say that they have been offering multiple phones for a while. The only thing new is that they changed the case when they trimmed the price a few quid so as not to affect margins as much.
Retarded Mac Pro design like a trash can.
Retarded new Airport Extreme design.. Jony Ive on crack.
iOS7 copying the childish Microsoft Metro/Modern UI and the crap Android UIs .. more Jony Ive on crack.
iPad Mini released .. iPad 4 released after a few months that iPad 3 was on the market.. Tim Cook focused all resources on selling the iPad Mini.. the result? Overall lower iPad units sold for the first time ever, iPad 3 customers outraged.
Now the iPhone 5C plastic nonsense. It could have been a success if and only if there was a single version 32GB at $359 or $399. Instead ? A scam and a silly joke. Priced very high with no quality anymore.
Whoever can buy a 5C now surely adding $100/100Euros more for a proper 5S wouldn't be a problem.
The 5C is essentially a minor upgrade (inside) of the 5 but with a plastic, colourful case - but cheaper.
The 5S is a more significant upgrade by adding genuinely innovative tech (fingerprint reader, better camera / flash and 64 bit processor plus M7 co-pro). I'll be buy a 5S but I know plenty of people who would still be happy with a 4 / 4S and the 5C is a significant upgrade and they may prefer the colour options. I'm not bothered about the colours myself but I know plenty of people (and not wishing to be sexist / ageist) - plenty of women and younger people - who would.
Both will sell hugely well and a lot of people have been waiting for them.
Because, of course, the iPhone 5s' sensor is *exactly* the bloody same as those useless little finger-swipe models that never actually worked reliably.
Oh, wait, it isn't, and you're talking bollocks. Again.
Incidentally, the *only* people expecting Apple to suddenly change the habit of a lifetime and suddenly decide to cater to the low- and mid-range markets with a "cheap" iPhone were the same pundits who continually insist that they know _exactly_ what the late Steve Jobs would have done despite having never actually met him. Apparently, all the people who actually *worked* with Jobs for many years don't have a clue what he wanted.
Come to think of it, *any* pundit who was actually any bloody good would be more than wealthy enough not to have to write link-bait bollocks for third-rate websites for a living. So those who do can be safely ignored.
+1
I'm interested to see how the other guys copy the fingerprint sensor - it needs a bit of room after all. I think it's a great idea and I can think of no better way you could unlock your phone (voice would be ridiculous in public, and face recognition was DOA).
Tim Cook needs to go. He is destroying Apple.
Retarded Mac Pro design like a trash can. Or like a jet engine, or a gravitation turbine; all depends on your perspective. Some might find it cool; I quite like it.
Retarded new Airport Extreme design.. Jony Ive on crack.Whatever. Again, some might like it and Jony Ive (and team) have a reputation of designing stuff people like.
iOS7 copying the childish Microsoft Metro/Modern UI and the crap Android UIs .. more Jony Ive on crack. Except it's not even close to Metro in design terms, is it? That's an urban myth that has been roundly debunked.
iPad Mini released .. iPad 4 released after a few months that iPad 3 was on the market.. Tim Cook focused all resources on selling the iPad Mini.. the result? Overall lower iPad units sold for the first time ever, iPad 3 customers outraged. True. Can't knock that one.
Now the iPhone 5C plastic nonsense. It could have been a success if and only if there was a single version 32GB at $359 or $399. Instead ? A scam and a silly joke. Priced very high with no quality anymore. You haven't even SEEN it FFS!!!! How the frigging HELL can you have any idea what it's like?!?
Whoever can buy a 5C now surely adding $100/100Euros more for a proper 5S wouldn't be a problem. 5S and 5C are not aimed at the same audience, and it's the industry pundits who were assuming it would be a cheaper option. It was never intended to be cheap, and appears to be aimed at wives/girlfriends/significant others in Apple households where there's enough disposable income to have both a 5S (for him) and a 5C (for her). Sorry if it sounds sexist but cents to dollars the vast majority of 5Cs will be bought by people without a penis.
You are obviously young, unmarried and unaware of the fact that women make the majority of purchasing decisions in the common household. Hence the reason most things are marketed towards them. You know stuff like cars, houses, heck even oil changes.
And yes, TC should go. He completely lost site of what jobs had built. Namely: style and class. Was the iPhone the best phone? Who cares. It looked better and appeared to be worth its asking price based on materials alone. New one is Plastic? Sorry, wrong price point.
With regards to "debunking" the whole metro copy thing. Apple had glass and dumped it in favor of a flatter less shiny experience. Sound familiar? This comes after ruthlessly going after people for "rounded corners" to the point that the world moved on. The backlash hurt them on style choices, so yes they are copying MS. Guess what- they all copy each other. Have for years and years and years.
Anyone notice Apple are now doing Applecare Plus which gives you up to 2 replacements for accidental damage over the 2 year period - not that is actually pretty interesting. Think it's subject to an excess of about £50-60 each time - but you accidentally break your phone and get a new one for £50-60 sounds good.
"Unlike the U.S., where there is no pre-order period for the full-priced Apple iPhone 5s, Apple is allowing Chinese iPhone 5s buyers to reserve their unit .. Reservations started on Tuesday and within two hours, the Gold version of the iPhone 5s was sold out in the Sanlitun, Xidan Joy City, and Wangfujing Apple Stores"
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Reservations-for-Gold-and-Silver-Apple-iPhone-5s-are-sold-out-in-Beijing-and-Hong-Kong_id47497
"Online reservations for the new iPhones have shot past 100,000 at China's second-largest mobile carrier, reports Bloomberg".
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57603056-37/iphone-5s-5c-score-100000-reservations-at-china-unicom/
I don't like to be associated with the 'Apple user' stigma... but i do by the iPhone. I really have tried all the alternatives, but none compare. I long for the day the other handsets catchup to the pace of the iPhone. Until then, you'll find me in the queue for the latest iPhone.... the 5S is just the next in a line of 'best the market has to offer' handsets.
Is it really such a surprise that figures are not forthcoming?
The last 3 iPhone launches have been for a single model with pre-orders.
This year we have 1 model that is "re-cased" from last year on pre-order (some variations sold out for launch day) and a new model that has no pre-order (apart from in China?)
I would much rather put my money on an announcement AFTER launch weekend for the 5s…
After all, the 5s is the main event here (new features and 64bit).
Okay, I admit it. I'm one of those "fanboi" types. I did try Android stuff. I really did. But the poor 70's style Taiwanese Samsung build quality and the sheer quantity of untested and useless apps on the Play Store put me off. I even sold my Nexus 7 after a month and bought an iPad mini. Anyway, Aunty Apple looks after me and all my data, even updating and synchronising all my lovely fruity toys without my having to lift a finger.
So yes, a nice blue iPhone 5C will be joining my arsenal of fruity toys on Friday. I'm sure it'll be lovely, very well made and compliment my iPhone 5 on my other account.
I'll let you fandroids know how I get along with the new fruit, although as we all know, it'll "just work".
While I wouldn't want to try to predict actual sales performance in such a volatile market and with such fickle consumers, I can say with absolute certainty that Steve Jobs would never in a million years have sanctioned the release of the aesthetic disaster that is the iPhone 5C.
I know Jobs said before he passed that it would be folly for anyone to try to run Apple by playing the "what would Steve do?" game, and in terms of company structure and overall direction he was almost certainly right. But when it came to design philosophy and attention to detail he was much easier to predict and there is no way on God's green earth he would have let the 5C out of the lab.
This is not trying to second-guess a dead man, it's learning from well-documented history. This was a man who once called Vic Gundotra on a Sunday to complain that a single letter on the iOS Google icon didn't have the correct yellow gradient and that he wanted a team putting together to fix it. Gudotra wasn't even an Apple employee.
Does that sound like the same man who would have allowed this to reach market?
It's all very well for a company to explore new directions but it's also in a company's best interest to play to its strengths, and most of Apple's successes in the recent past were due in no small part to Jobs' singular vision. To push at the boundaries of that vision is one thing, but the 5C just repeatedly punches it in both eyes until the retinas detach. It's awful.
"I can say with absolute certainty that Steve Jobs would never in a million years have sanctioned the release of the aesthetic disaster that is the iPhone 5C."
The 5c is a coloured iPhone. You know: like the coloured *iPods* Apple have been selling for years now. Did you not notice those?
Have you also forgotten the multicoloured *plastic* iMacs that helped bring Apple back from the brink, nearly 15 years ago?
All of those were released with Steve Jobs' explicit approval while he was still alive.
It's not just the colours and the plastic, although the choice of colours is definitely questionable. The black and white aren't too bad but the others are fairly sickly both alone or in combination. The various coloured iPods, and especially the original iMacs, somehow managed to be both bright and understated. But the 5C just comes across as garish.
But colour is subjective and bright things are "in" again and I'm prepared to concede that Steve Jobs might have been prepared to sign off on those, if they were the only issue. But the whole "hidden typography" thing linked above (and there's clearer view of it here) is simply unforgivable. It suggests lack of attention or, worse, a belief that little details aren't important. Once upon a time, the little things were all that mattered at Apple.
You may like or dislike the choice of colours, and you may even have your own ideas about how Jobs would have reacted to them. But if you believe for one second that he would have allowed an Apple product wrapped in an Apple case to display the words "non. ed by Ap...nia. Asse...a Mode" on the back, you are definitely not remembering the same Steve Jobs I am.
I'm still on a 4S and see absolutely no reason to change.
It's fast enough and does what I want.
Maybe they'd simply hit some sort of market saturation number. Plenty of 4s still out there doing just fine. Quite frankly most of the world doesn't swap out to the new shiny as soon as it comes out without a good reason. Certainly those who are tied to an existing contract wouldn't want to take the hit until they are eligible for upgrade. I don't know how many old non-smart phone devices still exist; Pretty much everyone I know either has a droid or an iPhone. Finally their marketing must have fallen asleep I didn't even know another iPhone was coming out till last week. Then again, I simply don't care. If this one stops working then ill get another.
I'm sure within the week we will see an announcement that they've sold another 2 million devices. Of course that announcement won't give the timeframe involved... Is it time to short apple stock? Maybe 5 points or so?
Did Apple crow about preorders for the 4 when the 4S came out? Or the 4S when the 5 came out? etc.
So why would they start doing press releases about their basically-old phone, the 5(C)?
For better or worse, the 5C is obviously not their "new" phone. It's a plastic iPhone 5. It's priced like an iPhone 5 and it takes up the same slot in their product lineup. Anybody who thinks it's a "new" phone and expects similar fanfare is an idiot.
(And I say this as someone who will be buying a 5S and wishing that it came in plastic... I hate that odd combination of glass and thin, scratch-prone aluminum on the back of the 5/5S.)
>And I say this as someone who will be buying a 5S and wishing that it came in plastic... I hate that
>odd combination of glass and thin, scratch-prone aluminum on the back of the 5/5S.
So,
wishing that (it was different),
hating odd combination
of thin, scratch-prone aluminum
... and still will be buying.
Sounds like the typical discernment of the typical iStuff buyer.
With the 5s audience being those that buy iPhones for the same reason the drink Stella, and the 5 being exactly the same spec but in a smarter more durable case. But then I realised that there is a brand of people who do not understand care about the innards, can't afford an iPhone but do want to have the latest handset no matter what. I know how well Apple understand their audience, I didn't realise there were enough of those numpties to warrant their own product.
Also do not forget the iPhone 6 must be round the corner, ready to lift another £500 of them.
News flash, Apple always sells last year's model for $100 less than the current one.
Only this time there's a bunch of hand-wringing about who would buy this "new" (old) handset.
What about the people who were buying the 4S after the 5 came out? Did you also say they were people who didn't understand or care about phone innards?
If the phone was $200-300 us outright I would say OK.
it looks tacky and cheap...
if youre looking for something cheap then that is often the look of those items
- I think it will just p!ss people off when they find out the cost.
They understand premium but that has nothing to do with understanding the
global market. Its not that Apple cannot, its just they dont care... same as
so many areas of computing that they have grovelled to get access to without supporting
in anyway themselves.
This whole article and most of the attached comments are so moronic it beggars belief. Reading this drivel has actually made me stupider.
Just put the apple loathing to one side and try to apply some rational thought to this, if all the butthurt allows you to. The 5C is a new iPhone yes, but it's not THE new iPhone. It's launch was never going to be on anything like the scale of an actual new generation iPhone, which is what the article is trying to draw a comparison with.
The 5C is a new product but Apple have been transparent about the fact that it's an iPhone 5 - last years phone - they constantly referenced that in the launch. And then of course they went on to launch the 5S as the new flagship. THAT is the phone they'll shortly be boasting opening weekend sales for.
The 5C will sell fine too, just like the 4S did last year after the 5 was announced, and all previous "now just $99" iPhones before that - but since it's based on older parts the supply will be plentiful and it's unlikely to ever sell out. It's not expected to.
maybe it is all the revelations about the NSA that got me thinking....
Watching the comments flying back and forth with such vehemence, got me wondering if it would be in El Reg's interest to post their own provocative comments under the "anonymous coward" handle , just to stir the pot.
Why not troll the readership to get the comments flowing ?
It works in politics "agent provocateurs" are used extensively, why not here ?
Just sayin' - no idea if they do it or not.
Has anyone considered the reason for potentially poor sales of the 5C may be due to the mindset of some potential iPhone purchasers - those that are under the impression the iPhone is a status symbol. In this situation, a cheaper, lesser iPhone wouldn't be an attractive purchase and if anything force these buyers to go for the more expensive option.
Smart move Apple. Offer a cheaper iPhone to satisfy the "too expensive" naysayers, yet at the same time give the fanbois no real option other than the premium 5S.
I will buy everything apple and I do not care about cost or functionality versus Samsung or Microsoft. What else would I spend my money on?
Why?, because we need Apple, VMware and Google to survive as companies to keep Mickeysoft down. Competition is healthy.
Apple is Rolls Royce...............enough said.
Wake me up when an Apple phone comes with a service contract that can run for over 50 years, with many upgrades during that period, and it is suitable for mission critical applications.
No consumer electronic company has any relationship to Rolls Royce in any shape or form (except perhaps that BlackBerry own QNX, which is the Rolls-Royce of embedded operating systems)
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
