iPhone 5C is a Failed Experiment, Apple Customers Would Always Want High-End Gadgets

Apple customers would always want a high-end smartphone. This is proven after the cheaper iPhone 5C failed entice its target consumers.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook recently released a cheaper iPhone dubbed “iPhone 5C” hoping to win customers who would want an iPhone but can’t afford to splurge much. The Cupertino-based company expected it to win customers from China, the biggest smartphone market in the world. However, it turned out that customers still chose the high-end iPhone 5S.

The iPhone 5C has not been doing as expected. The high-end version sold more than the cheaper option. Walmart and Target has dropped the price of the iPhone 5C in their stores just to dispose their inventories. The company is also cutting its production by 35 percent, according to Apple Insider.

“Apple customers are still interested in premium products from a premium brand,” said Laurence Balter, an analyst at Oracle Investment Research in Fox Island, Washington told Bloomberg Businessweek. “If anything, the 5C is a failed experiment in trying to please the masses. Apple should stay focused on the premium and let Samsung take the lower end of the market.”

A recent survey of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners revealed that 64 percent of the U.S customers chose to buy the iPhone 5S compared to 27 percent of the iPhone 5C despite of it being $100 cheaper than its high-end version. Customers are still willing to pay more for quality features such as an 8MP camera, A7 chip, and fingerprint scanner.

Analysts blame the failure of iPhone 5C on its still pricey amount and of it being perceived to be an iPhone with outdated features.

“Most people will err towards the one with the better feature set,” said Jonathan Rosen, who works in marketing, in an interview with Bloomberg. “The price difference just isn’t substantial enough to want a 5c.”

iPhone 5C’s failure to appeal to its target consumer is such a blow for Apple after spending much on advertising the product on global scale.