The iPhone 5C might seem like a gimmick, but gimmicks often work wonders. According to recent research, about half of new iPhone 5C owners in the UK migrated from LG and Samsung. If you’re thinking it’s a matter of the younger audience being fickle, think again: the average age for the iPhone 5C owner is 38.
While about 80% of 5S customers were simply upgrading, 5C represents a new market segment for Apple. Prior to the dual-device offering, Apple was left to discuss one device — their newest — leaving the former model as the bargain device. Already discussed the previous year, there was no reason to discuss anything but the pricing moving forward. With the 5C, Apple created buzz that wasn’t there before.
They also stole the mindshare of many Android customers. With the 5C, Apple had a new design to discuss, and a niche that the Moto X finds popular: colors. For the OS agnostic user, there is no reason not to move to the 5C.
Sounds troubling, but one thing is missing. We still don’t know how many iPhone 5C devices have been sold. If half of 5C customers came from Android, it would be more interesting to hear how many devices have been sold. We don’t know if this refers to five thousand or five million devices. Until we hear some official numbers from Apple, we’ll hold our alarm. For now, it seems Apple has found a much needed avenue to drive interest in their brand again.
As it turns out, the iPhone 5c is a successful product in its own terms, although it wasn’t able to match the sales of the 5s.