The iPhone 5S is Temporarily Doubling Sales of the iPhone 5C
According to a new Consumer Intelligence Research (CIRP) report, the iPhone 5S has outsold the iPhone 5C more than 2 to 1. Yet it's far too early to know which iPhone model will be the holiday season winner as there are still too many factors holding back iPhone 5C sales at the moment.
New iPhone sales stats that were published by the CIRP today only covers a little over half a month worth of sales. The trend is meaningless at the moment as Apple's October press release notes that the iPhone 5C coming to 25 new markets on October 25, 2013.
Additionally, the iPhone 5C has yet to enter the Korean market and China Mobile may only be introducing the iPhone 5C in November or later due to a new 4G licensing process dragging on in that country.
The CIRP co-founder Josh Lowitz told John Paczkowski of AllThingsD that "Over time, the lower-priced phones have tended to gain share versus the flagship phone, after the initial rush of dedicated upgraders to the newest device. So we expect that the 5c will account for a higher percent of total U.S. iPhone sales in the coming months, but the design changes may alter that dynamic. The iPhone 5c may appeal to different buyers than the legacy 4S did last year, or the new 5s will this year."
In our Friday report we noted that the Korean press had stated that "In foreign countries, the iPhone5S and 5C were sold at discounted prices immediately after their release. If such distribution policy is allowed in Korea, the price competitiveness of the iPhone 5C is expected to be considerable."
The Korean press further noted that the popularity of the new iPhones this year could very well depend on whether the Korean Apple cult, noted as being "maniacs," decides to replace their old iPhones or not.
On another front, Apple also has been working with retail partners in India to prepare new Shop-in-Shop arrangements that may debut as early as the first of November when the new iPhone debut in that country.
All in all, the results of the CIRP are not very insightful at this point in time, especially in light of productions slow downs ocurring in both new iPhone models. But for now, the iPhone 5S has the early lead and only time will tell which will utimately win the market over in calendar Q4.
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