Neil Hughes
With record iPhone sales in Apple's June quarter, the largest growth actually came from the company's mid-range handset lineup, which is represented this year by the colorful iPhone 5c.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook revealed on Tuesday that year-over-year growth rates comparing the iPhone 5c to last year's performance of the iPhone 4S show the greatest growth. That means that the share gains seen by the iPhone 5c outpaced those of the 2014 iPhone 5s vs. 2013 iPhone 5, and also bested the 2014 low-end iPhone 4s vs. 2013 iPhone 4.
Cook characterized himself as extremely happy with the performance of the iPhone 5c, which starts at $99 with a new two-year service contract. It comes in a plastic back available in a range of colors, but lacks the A7 processor and Touch ID fingerprint sensor found on the flagship iPhone 5s.
Though Cook didn't offer specifics as to how sales of each available iPhone model broke down over the June quarter, the comments seem to suggest that the iPhone 5c's share of total handset sales for Apple have been improving since the mid-range smartphone launched last year. For example, early this year Cook said that iPhone 5c sales up to that point represented a lower share of overall sales than the company had expected.
There's also evidence that the iPhone 5c may be playing an important role in attracting Android users to switch platforms. And while critics have been quick to attempt to position the iPhone 5c as a "failure," data suggests that the device has been outselling flagship Android devices, as well as every BlackBerry and Windows Phone device.
Apple on Tuesday reported total iPhone shipments of 35.2 million in the just-concluded June quarter, representing 12.7 percent year over year growth and setting a new quarterly record, but still coming in on the low end of Wall Street expectations. Exact sales of the iPhone 5c are unknown, as Apple declines to break down statistics on individual models for competitive reasons.
William Gallagher
Sponsored Content
Malcolm Owen
Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
47 Comments
I thought all the media, the analysts and all the haters said the 5c was a flop. It's easy to see what they were doing to spin the story regarding the 5c. The 5c replaced the 4s, so it should have been compared to how the 4s was doing, but no, that would be too logical and there is no story there. So instead, they decided to compare it to the 5S to try to spin it as a negative. I expect to see the same headlines regarding iphone supply cut. You can see them already setting the stage for it with yesterday/today's headlines. "Apple ordered 70-80 million iphone 6", by January, the headlines will be "iPhone 6 not selling well, Apple cut their iphone 6 orders, Apple is doomed."
I'll gladly volunteer to do the obligatory "But..but..but... the iHating anti-5c trolls said it was supposed to be a complete flop!"
Does this feed into the other reports of some saturation at the high-end?
On the other hand I don't see that many people use the polka dot iPhone case
Does this feed into the other reports of some saturation at the high-end?
If there is any saturation on the "high-end", it will probably be from consumers deciding the 5c was at that right price-point to get an Apple phone, as opposed to buying that Samsung crap.