iPhone 5c now comes in 3 storage capacities and 5 colours

Without the fanfare we usually see with the launch of an Apple product, you could be excused for not noticing there is a new iPhone in town. As of today, Australia, China and most of Europe will be able to purchase the new 8gb iPhone 5c.

Rumblings of an imminent iPhone refresh did appear online early last week and on Tuesday those rumours were confirmed with the new 8GB iPhone 5c appearing on carrier o2’s site.

Although this new model remains almost identical to its multi-coloured siblings, featuring the same 4 inch retina display and A6 chip, it does feature an all-important reduced price. Here in the UK, the new iPhone is available off contract for £429 making it just £80 more than the 8GB iPhone 4s but a full £120 less than the cheapest iPhone 5s.

Apple has been known to offer new storage options midway through their product release cycle, though usually opting to offer more rather than less storage. This reduction in price and storage is perhaps indicative of the iPhone 5c’s flagging sales. Apple CEO, Tim Cook, has previously indicated that the iPhone sales mix hadn’t matched their initial expectations, stating that the 5S had a “significant amount more attention and a higher mix of sales”.

The iPhone 5c is by no means a failure though. The 5c is selling better than the iPhone 4s when it too was the middle child of the iPhone family, but if we look at  key emerging markets such as China, we can understand Tim Cooks statement about sales mix. As you can see below, the iPhone 5c is a mere shadow of its more expensive brother and even falls behind the sales of the original iPhone 5.

iPhone 5c sales compared with iPhone 5s and 5 sales in China.

Through lowering the barrier for entry and clearly differentiating the pricing between its 5s model and the 5c, Apple will hope that this new model will tempt customers in to joining the Apple ecosystem. Before the launch of this new model, the 5s only cost £80 more than the 5c and it appears that most customers were willing to pay that premium. With the new model costing a full £120 less than the 5s Apple has now given customers something to think about.

Only time will tell if this new iPhone will be successful, but with Apple now vying for attention with competitor handsets such as the Nexus 5 and Galaxy S4, Apple certainly has to be up for the fight.