[NewsPoster]

Apple suppliers are cutting back still further on iPhone 5c production, a Chinese report says. Primary assembly partner ProTek -- better known under its parent name, Pegatron -- has slashed production from 320,000 units per day in October to only 80,000. Foxconn is said to be manufacturing units at a minimal level, only 8,000 to 9,000 per day. That company is, however, more focused on the iPhone 5s and other top-priority Apple products.

The report appears to back rumors that demand for the iPhone 5c is relatively low, forcing Apple to shorten orders. Most shoppers are believed to be gravitating towards Apple's flagship, the iPhone 5s. New Fiksu data shows the device representing 6.4 percent of active iPhones, whereas the 5c holds just 2.1 percent. That represents a widening gap, since a month ago the ratio was still about 2-to-1.

[Inkling]

It's not that the 5c is bad. It's a good phone and I'd be delighted if Apple were to give me one (unlocked) to replace my aging 3gs. But in comparison to the 5s, it's terribly overpriced. Over a two-year contract, the difference amounts to pocket change a day. And with the 5s, you get a phone that's looks much better, is twice and powerful, and will more than repay back it's cost at resale.

I'm actually surprised that the 5c is selling at all.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Apple has indeed peaked.

[mojkarma]

I agree. IMHO the pricing is just bad. And I'm not talking about the fact that the 5c is not meant to be a cheap phone but simply about the fact that the price difference between the 5c and 5s is simply to small. I'm actually wondering how badly Apple missed on this one. I mean, how many people would pay that price and a two year contract for a yellow or green phone??!!

[Spheric Harlot]

The price difference between the 5c and the 5s is the same as it was between the 4 and the 4S, or the 4S and the 5.

I think the real news isn't that so few people are buying 5c's; it's that a surprising (to Apple) number of people are opting for the 5s instead.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Arne_Saknussemm 

Apple has indeed peaked.

Your wife tells me you've peaked.

[Makosuke]

On one hand, I'll certainly agree that, relative to the 5s, if you know what you're looking at and look at the total price (rather than subsidized), the 5c is significantly overpriced. It's not out of line vs. the 5 it replaced, but (just like all the other previous-generation-for-$100-less models), it's not a proportionately good deal.

That said, I find it mildly hilarious that some people are trying to spin this into overall bad news for Apple. The news is that the *higher* end phone is so fantastically popular that they can't make enough--just about any company in the world would *kill* to have their top-of-the-line model substantially outsell the lower-end one.

The news is that, by all indications, the 5c isn't stealing any of the 5s's thunder--the flagship is selling like hotcakes. Maybe Apple would have sold overall more phones if the 5c had been $100 cheaper, but maybe not.

And I think the 5c really is setting the stage for the second tier of product anyway--it's what happens next year, when the 6c bumps the 5c down to "free" status that things get more interesting.