Apple’s iPhone 5c was introduced to hopefully bolster the low-end market for the company and give them a bigger piece of the ‘cheap’ smartphone retail sales. But, with a price starting at $99 (on contract), the price was higher than many were expecting.

With a price difference between the 5c and 5s of only $100, the bargain value of the 5c is diminished. More so, if you look at the feature differences between the two, the 5s becomes a better value for the long term as it has a faster processor and should be able to run Apple’s next generation operating systems better than the 5c.

It seems a bit obvious to make those statements but with only a $100 separating the 5s and the 5c on retail shelves in the US, the 5c does become a bit of a lame duck unless you are attracted to the color options.

But, it’s hard to ignore that the 5c was likely targeted to regions outside the US where consumers are traditionally more price sensitive. Apple was expected to produce a low-cost iPhone to help boost sales in China and other emerging regions but according to new information, the 5c may not be doing so well.

According to a post on Ctechcn, they are starting that the 5c is facing poor sales, and that Apple is cutting daily production capacity in half from 300,000 units down to 150,000 units.

iPhone 5c at Verizon has no shipping delays unlike the 5s

Now, it is hard to ignore the fact that Apple sold a record 9 million phones in the opening weekend of sales for the new iPhone, but Apple did not break down the sales makeup of the units that were sold. Additionally, if you go to Verizon’s website, it shows that the iPhone 5s is still backordered while the iPhone 5c is ready to ship. On AT&T, the iPhone 5s will ship in 7-14 days while the 5c is ready to ship now as well.

Seeing that both AT&T are ready to ship the 5c but not the 5s, could lend some truth to this report. Apple will be releasing its earnings in a few weeks where the company may detail out the shipments of 5s vs 5c, but they could also simply give raw iPhone figures too.

Source: Ctechcn