The Apple iPhone 5s & 5c Discussion Thread!

Discussion in 'Notebooks & Mobile Devices' started by Adrian Wong, Sep 16, 2013.

  1. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I'm not sure whether to get the iPhone 5s... or like Jason recommended, get the iPhone 5 at a discount of roughly RM 300 (USD 100).

    Usually, when I upgrade, my wife gets my phone. She's currently using my iPhone 3GS. But this time, she wants a new model, so... I guess my iPhone 4S would go to either my father or my mother.
     
  2. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Why just an extra year? As long as the A6 is used by a current iPhone - the iPhone 5c, developers will have to develop for the A6, instead of the A7. So I think the iPhone 5 will have the same "lifespan" as the 5c.

    Jason is of the opinion that Maxis and other service providers will "dump" their iPhone 5 at the same price as the iPhone 5c, which would be about RM 300 less than the iPhone 5s.

    I think most people would agree that the price gap between the 5s and the 5c is too minimal to justify the 5c. But is it worth getting the older 5 instead?
     
  3. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    If the 5c has the same spec as 5, I think it's kinda stupid to get 5c, right? I mean who would want something with poorer build quality, and also to tell the world that you can't afford the real deal? :lol:
     
  4. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    That's exactly the point. The 5c is kind of dead in the water unless you are a young kid or girl who wants something colourful. And the price difference isn't that significant.

    If you cannot afford the iPhone 5s, it would be better to just get the current iPhone 5. I'm just wondering if it's worth paying RM 300 extra for the iPhone 5s, especially if it means getting tied up to a contract... or if it's better to just buy the current iPhone 5 without a contract.
     
  5. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    The extra year is an arbitrary number, based on the guess that the iPhone 6c will be using the A7 chip, meaning, developers will start to focus on full on A7 support and lesser reason to support A6.

    But obviously it will be for a lot longer, considering that even today, an iPhone 4 (non s) still runs perfectly well for the majority of the apps except for the most intensive games.
     
  6. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Yeah, I think the A6 will be supported for a few more years to come.

    BTW, it looks like the gold coloured iPhone 5s is the most popular model, with it sold out until October... :think:

    What colour are you thinking of buying?
     
  7. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    Supported for many more years is a definitely. Even the A4 is still supported today with iOS 7 support on iPhone 4. But optimised? Maybe not. Especially so for developers. :) But I think you get my point.

    As for the colours. Gold is already all sold out by now. Every single country where its available. But I've already ordered Space Grey. Damn Singapore start also kena October shipping. No dates. Not like Aust, China, Europe or US where it started off at 1-3 business days, then 7-10 and now October.

    I think the stock allocation here in SG and HK is a lot less.
     
  8. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    There is a rumour going around that Apple is intentionally reducing stock of the iPhone 5s to drive sales of the iPhone 5c which seems to be lagging far below their expectations.

    So far, I haven't met anyone who is interested in the iPhone 5c. Have you? Everyone who intends to upgrade or buy an iPhone this round seems intent on the iPhone 5s...
     
  9. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    Well, think about it. Who buys a phone over the launch weekend, lining up for hours and purchasing online the second the Apple Store gets updated. Enthusiasts, with the dough to roll. What then would they likely be buying… the 5s. With 9M sales, do you think that Apple is stupid enough to limit the stock, already knowing that it's also takes a much longer time to manufacture it in the first place?

    As for the 5c target market, they will buy it over time when contract ends. These set of consumers don't care or even know what makes a phone. All they want would be a phone that allows them to make calls, video call their family, connect to Facebook, play videos, listen to music, play some games, track their finances, check and perhaps even buy and sell stocks, etc… A6-what? RAM? What's an animal gotta do with a phone?
     
  10. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Actually, the iPhone isn't particularly expensive outside of Asia. It's what - US$199 for the 5s, and US$99 for the 5c?

    That's with a plan, of course, but it's the same situation over here (in Malaysia), just a lot more expensive - RM 2K+ (US$ 650-700). So I don't think it's a matter of price, at least not in most of the launch countries.

    The only one where I think price matters is China. China is big reason why Apple hit 9M sales so fast this time around. It's the first time they are launching in China so soon, and I think a big reason why they came up with the iPhone 5c. The Chinese don't mind the iPhone 5c as long as it means they get to finally buy a real Apple iPhone, instead of a fake Android rip-off that looks like one. :D

    I haven't seen Apple announce the individual sale numbers, only that they ran out of iPhone 5s. But some analysts put the sale of the 5s versus the 5c at 2:1, and even that included units already sold to the carriers.

    I think it tallies with what seems to be the general consensus amongst those who intend to buy this time - they would rather pay a little extra for the iPhone 5s.

    Apple may not have intentionally limited their stock of iPhone 5s, but it would mean that they greatly miscalculated the demand for the iPhone 5s versus the 5c. There doesn't seem to be a lack of iPhone 5c, so I think it shows that Apple did a pretty good job of building up their inventory before the launch.

    Hey, you got your iPhone 5s yet? :D
     
  11. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    Not from the initial data, at least speculatively. Apple will not break down the number, no one does anyway if anyone actually bother reading the financial data and earnings report instead of just blindly reading and accepting speculations by the so-called-analyst-experts.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Source: iPhone 5s Outsells 5c by a Factor of 3.4x in the United States Opening Weekend Localytics

    If you look at that graph, data shows that most activations over the weekend was mostly US and Japan devices.

    Like I said, Apple will probably never break down the numbers for many reasons. But one thing we know is Apple had always been rather conservative with reporting earnings (they always account for 'unpaid' taxes even when their cash hoard is OUTSIDE of the US) and sales data (only sold devices data and not including channel stocks).

    Analysts are all BS. if you actually bother to read them, try to read the reports not as individual reports but a series of reports and you will see them going EVERYWHERE and almost always contradicting themselves. I trust my imaginary pet frog more than any thing that comes out of the analysts mouth. And of course, actual factual data. Then interpret it myself.

    So the ratio? Again, data has shown to suggest it's highly biased towards the 5s. Why? My take as I've said, who are the people crazy enough to try and wait for hours in a line to buy a phone. That's not the 5c target market. And especially since the 5c has a lot of stock, who needs to 'rush' to buy one over the weekend?

    As for miscalculations, it's hard to do that when you max out production and still is never enough for the demand. Almost all their product rollouts has been through the same situation. So yea. Why it's still possible they screwed up. but it's also possible that they just could simply not make enough of it, while making a good margin of course. Like I said, they are not a charity company, and I would not imagine that they would suddenly be so generous to offer cheaper phones are a small margin.

    So, in order for them to keep up with launch weekend demands, they would either need to build phones months ahead in time and then have sufficient stock in day one. However, that's a very costly way to run a business. I reading somewhere before that Apple inventory turnover are counted in days. *update: Apple's secret sauce for success is inventory management

    But they probably would have a 2-3 week of stock prepared for launch weekend, more than that? Probably not.

    As for the 5c, i would not say that inventory is great, but the demand has simply not yet build up. This isn't the phone everyone will go for at day one, but one that's targeted for to those whose contracts would end over the next year and is looking for a $99 smartphone contract.

    And no. I've still not gotten any shipping dates for my order. Damn discriminated here in SG compared to the US.
     
  12. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Analysts have to speculate because financial reports only come much later. But at the end of the day, I still think that Apple will end up selling a lot more iPhone 5s than iPhone 5c.

    If I'm poor and want an iPhone, I would rather get the iPhone 4S for free (in the US). The $100 price gap is too small, I think, for most people to bother with the iPhone 5c. Even though it may seem to be half the price, it's still just $100 to them.

    It's even worse in countries like Malaysia, where the price difference is less than 14% - estimated RM 2199 vs. RM 1899.

    If you want to buy an iPhone this year in Malaysia, would you get the iPhone 5s for RM 2,199 or would you get the iPhone 5c for RM 1,899? I think most people would just get the iPhone 5s.

    Eh, I think Elton posted that he has the iPhone 5s already... Or was I dreaming? LOL!

    Well, at least Singapore is in the first slew of countries. Where's Malaysia?
     
  13. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    All these iPhones are so expensive nowadays. In the meantime, I like the Lumia 520 I have on my hand - it's pretty dead simple. But the downsides are, the keyboards in the Win8 Phone are much non-customizable and I do bound to hit the wrong keys.

    The app support in Windows Phone is not too good. Some games popular in Android and the iOS haven't got updated for so long in WP8.
     
  14. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Actually, I think Apple has never changed the price of the iPhones. They have always been sold at this price range. Only now, with the iPhone 5c, do they have a cheaper new iPhone.

    In the past, if you want a cheaper iPhone, you will have to buy the previous generation iPhone, and even then it's limited to 8 GB of storage.
     
  15. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    Sure. Speculate by all means, but speculating with a vengeance which seems to be the case for Apple? It's just pure evil. If you look at the media today, whatever Tim Cook do is wrong, sell more iPhones, BAD. Sell less iPhone, BAD. Introduce new products like the Mac Pro… Looks like a trashcan, DEAD. Don't introduce anything new. DEAD.

    LOL. Anyways. Totally OT already.

    Oh and Elton's photo is his friend's I believe.
     
  16. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Err... I don't think I said that. I'm only speculating that Apple may have held back some stock of the iPhone 5s to drive sales of the iPhone 5c.

    I personally find the iPhone 5s a far more compelling buy than the iPhone 5c, and that's pretty much what most people who intend to buy an iPhone this time around have said. This isn't a diss on Apple, as much as an opinion on which of the two models are more compelling.

    Oh! I thought it was his! LOL!

    Anyway, back to topic... hehehe... :haha: :haha:
     
  17. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    Nah, wasn't directed at you. Just the so called expert analysts. And the 5s is definitely more compelling for sure. Especially for us that demands more than just a phone. :) and I will be able to add it to my list… very very very soon!!! :D :dance: :dance: :dance:
     
  18. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    How much is it going to cost you in Singapore? What are they offering over there?

    Over here, I think we can expect the same old deal - RM 2,199 for the 16 GB model, and RM 2,499 for the 32 GB model and RM 2,799 for the 64 GB model.

    Even with a 2-year contract (RM 118 per month), we will still need to foot RM 1,350, RM 1,700 or RM 2,050 respectively... :wall: :wall:
     
  19. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    I paid SGD1288 for my 64GB 5S. No telco plan.

    Here's the plan for M1 - M1 iPhone

    For a 39SGD per month plan - you still pay $820 for the 64GB. Other telcos quite similar too.
     
  20. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    The plan isn't too bad. About the same as over here, but I believe with more bandwidth. You don't spend that much every month?
     

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