In Apple’s recent earnings conference call, Tim Cook conceded that consumer demand for the iPhone 5S and 5c did not align with what the company had expected. More people were clamoring for iPhone 5S than Apple’s anticipation while demand for the plastic, colorful 5c ‘turned out to be different than we thought’. Several reports reveal more than three million iPhone 5c units are waiting for buyers, two million of which are in Pegatron’s warehouse. Tech experts suggest iPhone 5S is the real winner among all the models than Apple pulled out of its hat in 2013. iPhone 5c was a clear-cut failure. But was iPhone 5c’s failure really Apple misstep?

Why iPhone 5c was a failure?

In the past Apple has made products for people to whom design, simplicity and a great experience are important. For Apple to compromise in these areas would be a violation of its own values. And that’s precisely what the company did when it unveiled iPhone 5c. When Apple introduced iPhone 5c to the tech market, Johnny Ives described it as ‘unapologetically plastic’. Samsung Galaxy had been criticized for its plastic body by experts and consumers alike. How could a brand known for its premium products pull this off? Consumers did not take well to the line ‘unapologetically plastic’. The phrase seemed so interesting and memorable that it got played back time and again in articles about the lackluster demand for iPhone 5c. The company thought it was launching a cheap device but cheap is not why people flock the slick, glass and aluminum Apple stores.

Was plastic to blame for 5c’s failure?

But plastic doesn’t seem to be the only issue here. Despite Apple’s claims that 5c would be a wallet-friendly device, it came with the price tag of $549 – just $100 less than the flagship better equipped phone. iPhone 5c is by no means a poor phone. Had it been launched in the market by a competitor who had priced it correctly, it would have been hailed.

It could have been Apple’s calculated move

Could it really have been that they had not seen this coming? Some say this was a calculated move on Apple’s part. It is a pure speculation but perhaps iPhone 5c was less appealing on a psychological level because it was never at any point of time intended to be one. It would be interesting to compare the sales of iPhone 5s and 5c. The former is clearly a winner as compared to it plasticky sibling. Perhaps that was what Apple Inc had wanted.