Apple's iPhone 5c: It might be colourful but it's not cheap

Apple’s iPhone 5c might be colourful but it certainly isn’t cheap. So for everyone who was joking that the c in iPhone 5c stood for cheap, get ready for a big reality check. Tim Cook might have said that the two iPhone models will allow Apple to “serve even more customers,” but Apple isn’t going to compromise on quality or price. The iPhone 5c will retail at $99 for the 16 GB version and 32 GB version at $199 but on a two-year contract. The unlocked version of the phone is a whopping $549 which converts to around to Rs 35,000 and higher. In fact as Apple’s China website clearly mentions, the iPhone 5c will start at 4488 Chinese Yuan which is around $700. Convert the Yuan price into Indian Rupees and the phone is a whopping Rs 46,000. It would be fair to say that the iPhone 5c won’t be cheap when it comes to India. The price is definitely going to be above Rs 35,000. In fact as this piece on Huffington Post points out, “While there’s a plastic (or, as Apple calls it, “hard-coated polycarbonate”) shell, there’s a steel frame that holds the components and functions as an antenna, giving the phone some heft…even though it’s less expensive and made from cheaper material, Apple hasn’t strayed from the clean, elegant design it’s known for. The 5C still feels like a premium product.” [caption id=“attachment_1101169” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Apple iPhone 5C is seen in this product photo. Getty Images[/caption] In essence the phone doesn’t feel like a cheap product. Apple has said that the phone is made entirely from one part. The phone’s internal components are held together with a steel frame. Also the features of the iPhone 5c are same as the iPhone 5 except for the poly-carbonate body. As this piece in The Verge points out, in reality, Apple is positioning it firmly in the middle. The specs include a 4-inch display, an improved forward-facing camera, a bigger battery, and a polycarbonate colored shell. Essentially, it’s an iPhone 5 with a plastic body that Apple is willing to sell as a new midrange device.   Given that Apple has now eliminated the iPhone 5, it also appears to be a phone that can help Apple continue with its high margins. This piece on  TechCrunch  argues that the iPhone 5c is a Jony Ive designed phone and that Apple can now offer customers something substantially sexier than “last year’s model” … and it eliminates the confusion that would have been caused by the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5.  By pricing their so-called cheap phone at over $700 in the world’s largest smartphone market which is China, Apple has ensured that it has phones at two different price points and neither of them is in the cheap category. The iPhone 5s is priced at RMB 5288 ( China’s Yuan) which comes to around $860. Reuters  points out, the pricing of what was expected to be a cheap model aimed at growth markets such as China and India has not only stumped investors, but also Apple aficionados in China, a country of 1.4 billion people and the world’s largest smartphone market. “My original estimate of the 5S price was around 3,000 yuan, but more than 4,000 - I think for a budget version the price may be a little expensive. I don’t think I can buy one,” said Liu Donghai, a 25-year-old chemical engineer told Reuters.  In short, Apple isn’t compromising on the price when it comes to the iPhone, no matter what the market.