Poor iPhone 5C sales could mean higher prices for everyone. Even if you don't own an iPhone


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11...s_and_tax_you/

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple...amsung_id45244

Vimplecom and its Beeline brand, the last major Russian carrier that sold the iPhone, has cut its ties with Apple and will not renew the contract allowing it to sell iPhones. The country’s two biggest carriers MTS and Megafon have quit selling iPhones earlier precisely because of Apple’s harsh conditions.


This is what needs to happen elsewhere, Russia's 3 largest mobile operators stopped selling iPhone due to these harsh rules

Agree. More networks need to do this. Manufacturers should not have that level of control. Then again nor should networks. There needs to be a balance.

Way does every body act surprised when such a thread crops up, apple rip customers off have done for a long time. Hopefully though operators will be less keen on these terms with the failure of the 5c, so hopefully less apple tax in the future.

apple is just a cash cow... why people choose to give them money is beyond me... maybe i m missing the point , but I have tested almost all apple devices and there inferior to any common android on the market.

What level of control do you think the manufacturer has? They cannot force a network to sign as agreement, and therefore you would assume that both parties are happy to sign.

From the article linked it is difficult to understand what they are signing up to, as the whole thing seems to be full of speculation and unnamed sources.

They want to sell the phone, the manufacturer says yes but only if. If they want it enough they accept the conditions even if they are not too happy about them. Apparently they became too much of a hassle for the Russian providers to be bothered anymore.

How does that old saying go?

Be nice to the people on the way up because you will certainly meet them on the way down...

I do think Apple will become a niche smartphone supplier in the next 2-3 years, much like happened with their personal computer division. The real problem they have is they are up against a competitor who doesn't seem that interested in making profits on the hardware and Apple have clearly demonstrated with the 5C they have no intention of foregoing their huge mark up on products they supply. The penny will drop with loyal Apple owners eventually. The Moto G, I suspect, is just the start of the onslaught...

Eventually Apple will implode, and I don't think Samsung will be too far behind either. These kinds of intense deals can only last for so long, all it takes is for one retailer/network to make a stand and it will all come crashing down.

In fact, Apple's stubbornness is the only reason Android was able to gain success in the first place. If they hadn't sought the deal with the most money by making the iPhone exclusive to AT&T in the US and O2 in the UK, all the other networks probably wouldn't have given Android a look in. A very silly mistake by Apple which has ultimately cost them.

As for those saying that nobody is "forced" to sign these contracts, of course not. Just as someone at gunpoint isn't "forced" to sign a contract either.

If you don't have an iPhone you don't have an iPhone

Are they destined to go on home display next to the three penny piece and the commemorative £5 coin ?

So do you think the networks have had a bad deal from Apple? Do you think AT&T and Verizon (who the link referred to) feel they have had a bad deal?

Considering we do not even know what these deals are, the only impact I can see so far is the make the networks a lot of money.

If these deals are so bad, it seems strange that NTT DoCoMo have signed up (and appear to be doing very well from it) and China Mobile are rumoured to have signed.

For better or worse, Apple will come on top anyway. I think that's the problem here.

Yes, I think you are missing the point - other people will have tested them and found they prefer iOS over Android...simple realy...some people like one thing and others like another.

Not sure how you can't 'get' that to be honest. It comes up time and time again - for some reason some people don't seem to be able to understand the simple concept that some people like one thing and some people like another.

This is a very ignorant comment to make to be honest. Networks don't hold all the cards any more, a lot of their bargaining power and control has been seriously depleted.

This Apple deal is the lesser of two evils according to the networks. It's either turn down Apple and lose out to competitors or enslave themselves to Apple assuming risk with only some potential for profit. Of course the networks are going to choose the latter. They don't want the bad press or the risks and Apple knows that.

China Mobile has already expressed serious concerns about selling Apple products after they were forced to slash their subsidy on the iPhone 5C to maintain an acceptable profit margin.

Apple is extremely desperate to break into the Asian markets, especially China where Android has near 100% control of the market. I highly doubt the deals they offer to Asian networks will be anywhere near as severe as the ones they offered to Western networks.

One thing is for certain - if they wish to retain their all-conquering hold over the networks in the years to come the 5C had better have been a blip and not a sign of products/strategy to come.

Apple has been making constant mistakes with the networks actually. As I said before, the whole reason Android even managed to become the world's most successful mobile OS is because of a mistake Apple made when dealing with the networks.

I think it would be wise for Apple to discontinue the "C" range altogether and revert back to one model. Either that or make the 5C successor significantly cheaper in price.

Eventually the pressure they are putting on the networks with these enslavement-style deals will cause damage.

So you think the deal is bad for the networks? Despite all the money they have made from it?

I didn't know china mobile sell the iPhone 5c. I thought a deal hadn't been announced yet, and reports claim it will be the 18th December. Are they really complaining before they have even put a phone on sale? Seems a strange deal to sign.

We do not know the deals signed by the western networks and indeed we do not know the deals signed in Asia, which makes the issues raised in the OP link a complete non story.

They gain monetary profit from the deal yes, nobody has denied that, but it's clear this profit comes at the cost of other things, I thought that was a blindingly obvious conclusion to draw from this.

I meant to write China Telecom, not China Mobile.

It's not really a non-story if Apple are forcing non-negotiable agreements and dictating to networks on how they deal with competitors.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...roid-switchers

"iPhone 5C tempts Android switchers "
"Android retains dominance in all countries except Japan while iPhone sees slower uplift "

That is one very very weird 'slow uplift'. It says Apple's world share has fallen from 20.8% to 15.8% (for their peak 'new edition' period), even with the novelty of 2 new phones.

Proprietary walled garden Windows phone is now competing well with IOS.

Non-google android phones made up 78% of sales in China

The underlying figures show Apple are selling more units, but losing market share because despite that, the rest of the market is growing faster.

So in terms of absolute sales there's a small uplift. In terms of market share there's a moderate drop.

The continual drop in profits is the worrying aspect for apple, selling more phones but making less money. It would indicate that their new flagship phones have little appeal but now they have brought out the 5c many buyers stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Unless of course the intention was to make the 5c so bad that punters had to buy the flagship phones.

But surely Apple make a bigger %tage profit on the 5C (if it was selling of course) on account of it basically being the year old iPhone 5 in a Primark frock?

Really?
Here there is no real data given. It might even mean survey sales fell YOY for all we know.
What is quite apparent via that Japan trend is that not that many buy the phone. It simply comes with the network contract.