Weak Demand for iPhone 5c Leaves 3 Million Inventory [Digitimes]

Apple has stopped placing orders for the colourful iPhone 5c, as it currently has 3 million units of unsold inventory, Taiwan-based supply chain sources told Digitimes.

The iPhone maker has recorded its highest-ever first fiscal quarter, selling 51 million iPhones between October and December 2013, but the demand for the lower-priced iPhone 5c has been lower than expected. As a result, Apple has a total of 2 million unsold units at ODM Pegatron Technology, and over a million units with telecom carriers and distributors, the sources reveal.

Digitimes notes that the reason for weaker-than-expected demand is the iPhone 5c’s higher-than-expected price tag, and the 4-inch display, which is “rather smaller than the latest standard”. This is kind of interesting, because the iPhone 5s also has a 4-inch display, so from this perspective doesn’t meet the “latest standards”, but it is selling well, as the Apple’s holiday quarter results and other independent market reports have shown.

The Digitimes report suggests that Apple should adjust its smartphone strategy and release products with bigger screens to meet market demand. And if the rumours are true, Apple will release a 4.7-inch, and maybe even a 5.7-inch model later this year.