The 5C is at $99 and $199 for a two year contract

Thats pretty cheap for a phone that is pretty close to a computer nowadays isnt it?

Arent there a lot of people who cant say they wont get an iphone due to cost though?

Yeah. They already quietly sell budget phones...the older model iPhone 3 & 4, in huge numbers and at good profit margins. The 5C is nothing but an expensive plastic brand dilutor.

The 4S is now going to be free with contract....

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about it.

Giving it the 5 tag is a disaster.

good point 5c seems unnecessary. I guess it is an emerging markets play but why not just sell the 4s/5 overseas?

Remember those prices are partially subsidized by the 2-year contract deal, so you're still paying for the phone though higher average service costs. AT&T/Sprint/Verizon are very expensive.

The wrench there now is T-Mobile, which carries iPhones and has a non-contract service pricing model. You can get TM's 4G LTE service for $50/month, up to $70/mo. with unlimited data. I have the middle tier for $60 @ 2.5GB data and the monthly bill is ~$65 w/ taxes and fees.

You buy an iPhone outright or finance one at zero interest, and that's separate. The 5 was $580 through them, and when I figured it out the break-even point on TM (compared to the other service plans) it was only like 13 months. After which my $65/month is the phone bill for as long as I keep the phone.

The way T-Mobile is picking up subscribers it seems like a popular pricing model, and it makes the "real" phone cost more of a consideration to buyers. $549 for the 5C seems way too high. It's $30 less than what my 5 cost back in April.

I'm not sure what this accomplishes? The 5C is essentially a 5 wrapped in polycarbonate instead of aluminum, in colors picked out by Miley Cyrus, at a still very high-end price. Curious to see what the reaction to the 5C winds up being.

The 5S looked good and they made very solid performance improvements.

I might buy the 5C after all. I have had android mobiles and man are they are not easy to work with, neither private nor for work.

So is the 5C better or worse than iphone 5? iphone 4s?

5S is probably the best option.

The 5C is almost identical to the 5 apart from the plastic. The front camera is marginally better and the battery a little larger is all so far as I know. But as far as the screen, processor and so on they're the same thing. Still a good phone, questionable aesthetics aside. The 4s is still a great phone though, the Mrs has one and it's still perfectly capable.

I dont see how have a cheaper iphone is bad thing for Apple.

Seems like everyone was saying they cant compete for the large numbers of people in emerging markets buying their first phone, so they rectify that problem by offering a cheap phone and its a disaster?

I dont really think the 5C is geared for people who already have iphone or are in the US even.

That's the problem, it's not a cheap phone. Also contract prices are big in the US but not in many other places in the world where they might buy a phone. So they'll have a hard time fooling people with "it's only $99 with contract." It's not $99, it's $550.

In places like China and India they pay a bit more, and average income is much lower. A lower price helps but it's still relatively high for emerging markets. Definitely higher than expected.

WorldBoFree: It was announced as a low end phone. It's priced like a high end phone. See the problem?

Karen Finerman announced on "Fast Money" today that she recently completely sold out of AAPL.

She did a good job of analyzing the situations with Apple's stock too.

So I think that's basically a wrap. The majority of the public is bearish on AAPL (or will be bearish) now that nearly all analysts and talking heads are bearish.

Icahn and Einhorn might be the only ones left.

By the way I'm long AAPL and in related news I still believe in the magic of innovation. Technically it definitely looks like more downside from here.

Karen Finerman is an idiot. I remember when she advised people to buy Washington Mutual the day that they went under. Ironically, clownish Carl Icahn was the guest on the show back then.

She also got crushed on Crocs, then told everyone to sell at the lows. Then Crocs went for 70 cents to 30 dollars. She is not too swift.

Yeah, i see the problem now. It seems really boneheaded.

So much so, that its hard to believe.

Forget the positioning of the 5c, iOS7 is worse than I imagined.

The functionality is fine and it's attractive.

The problem is it looks just like Windows 8.

Yeah, it's a direct ripoff of so many features of Windows 8 and Android. The 5C is also a direct rpoff off the Lumia line, which has become very popular (up to 20% market share in certain demographics) such as with teenagers in places like England.

Apple are running scared and making really bad decisions. You can't maintain 40% profit margins and carrier extortion techniques when your phone is like everyone else's.

Apple needs a game changer. They seem to be going full Microsoft with incremental nonsense.

Can you show me some articles to read on this? This could explain why 5c (not the s) is the first iPhone 5 to show up when you go to apple.com/iphone.

Scouted Apple stores in NYC a bit. A few observations:

1. plenty of 5cs left in stock.
2. one couple, who needed phone right away, actually asked for the old 5 instead of 5c
3. even the people that work there don't seem to want to push the 5c.

I think it's safe to say the people who wait in line at Apple stores or buy iPhones the week they come out are not the same people Apple is targeting with the 5c.

Buying any phone(not just iphones) that isn't the top of the line model is a joke. The phones are financed through the service providers. So you can buy a cheaper phone but you're still going to be making the same payments. People sweat about a $200 difference upfront when they're going to be making $60 monthly payments for 2 years.

Totally agree. It just boggles my mind that Apple would open the door to the question "why would you pay $100 extra for the 5s?"

Agree with this as well. But for vast majority of consumers it's $200 vs. $100 because people just aren't bright like that.

To be fair, at this point there isn't a huge difference between the $200 and $100 phone.

I actually bought a 5s on the first day. I think the fingerprint sensor really is a big deal. You don't even really notice it after a while making it way better then a passcode