Mobile By Ryan Whitwam Mar. 17, 2014 2:15 pm
Analysts and consumers alike have been waiting years for Apple to release a less expensive iPhone, but the Cupertino company just couldn’t shake that premium approach to smartphones. The iPhone 5c was much less budget-friendly than most were hoping, coming in just a bit under the cost of the flagship 5s. Apple doesn’t discuss actual sales numbers very often, but reports indicate Apple stores have had trouble moving the iPhone 5c. In response, the company could be getting ready to drop the price with a new 8GB version of the device as soon as tomorrow.
This rumor comes by way of a document allegedly leaked from O2 Germany, which makes it clear the 8GB model is coming to stores tomorrow (March 18th). Following this leak, photos surfaced of packaging for the new iPhone 5c variant. The documents list the 8GB iPhone 5c as retailing for 60 Euros less than the 16GB model, which works out to about $83. The 16GB iPhone 5c is already $99 on-contract, so it’s hard to see how an 8GB version would be anything other than free.
We won’t know what Apple is planning until it announces the specifics of the rollout, but an 8GB iPhone 5c would probably slot into the bracket where the 8GB iPhone 4s is currently sitting. This would benefit Apple beyond pushing sales of the iPhone 5c. The 4s is using archaic hardware by smartphone standards, and Apple does like the keep its device ecosystem nice and unified.
If Apple does have to go to such extremes just to move the cheaper iPhone, it’ll be interesting to see how it pivots when new devices are announced at the end of summer. Maybe the iPhone 5c’s mediocre sales performance will doom it to being a blip on the radar, or perhaps Apple will just offer new versions with less storage from the start.
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This rumor comes by way of a document allegedly leaked from O2 Germany, which makes it clear the 8GB model is coming to stores tomorrow (March 18th). Following this leak, photos surfaced of packaging for the new iPhone 5c variant. The documents list the 8GB iPhone 5c as retailing for 60 Euros less than the 16GB model, which works out to about $83. The 16GB iPhone 5c is already $99 on-contract, so it’s hard to see how an 8GB version would be anything other than free.
We won’t know what Apple is planning until it announces the specifics of the rollout, but an 8GB iPhone 5c would probably slot into the bracket where the 8GB iPhone 4s is currently sitting. This would benefit Apple beyond pushing sales of the iPhone 5c. The 4s is using archaic hardware by smartphone standards, and Apple does like the keep its device ecosystem nice and unified.
If Apple does have to go to such extremes just to move the cheaper iPhone, it’ll be interesting to see how it pivots when new devices are announced at the end of summer. Maybe the iPhone 5c’s mediocre sales performance will doom it to being a blip on the radar, or perhaps Apple will just offer new versions with less storage from the start.
More...
