> it is less and less an instantly recognizable phone
How so? People were already using cases that camouflage the device somewhat.
>cheaper models kill the exclusiveness of the brand
This is the thing, there have already been "cheaper models". With every year when a new version comes out, the old ones got cheaper. Don't they give out the 4 or 4S for free with a contract right now?
You might also have heard bickering that the 5C is not the "cheap iPhone" everybody expected. Seeing as it is priced not nearly anywhere you would call "cheap".
Instead of continuing this behavior of simply keeping last years version of the phone around and selling them cheaper, Apple now decided to not do that this year and instead try and vamp up the old phone a bit so as to not just go "yeah, this is our new phone and of course the old one you already know but now, it gets a little cheaper"
> People were already using cases that camouflage the device somewhat.
It's more about the actual offering - the iPhone - that Apple makes. The more crisp this idea is in the head of consumers, the better the positioning. It is more difficult for a product to be iconic the more variations of it there are.
> the old ones get cheaper
Again, it is about what Apple's offering is. I don't think selling out old inventory interferes with the idea of what their current offering is. In fact the better defined each model is, the easier to distinguish last year's model from the current one.
> the 5C is not the "cheap iPhone" everybody expected. Seeing as it is priced not nearly anywhere you would call "cheap".
It is still cheaper, so now the iPhone I show off only signals that I spent whatever the cheapest model costs. Might not be a huge difference but I still believe it hurts important signaling value that used to be attached to the iPhone.
> It is still cheaper, so now the iPhone I show off only signals that I spent whatever the cheapest model costs.
Isn't it the other way around? Under the old system, you bought a "high end" 4S. Then Apple introduce the iPhone 5, drop the 4S to a low price, and now your 4S is suddenly the "cheap" iPhone. Under this new system, you bought an iPhone 5, they introduce the 5C, drop the iPhone 5, and your iPhone 5 is still recognizable as the high end model.
How so? People were already using cases that camouflage the device somewhat.
>cheaper models kill the exclusiveness of the brand
This is the thing, there have already been "cheaper models". With every year when a new version comes out, the old ones got cheaper. Don't they give out the 4 or 4S for free with a contract right now?
You might also have heard bickering that the 5C is not the "cheap iPhone" everybody expected. Seeing as it is priced not nearly anywhere you would call "cheap".
Instead of continuing this behavior of simply keeping last years version of the phone around and selling them cheaper, Apple now decided to not do that this year and instead try and vamp up the old phone a bit so as to not just go "yeah, this is our new phone and of course the old one you already know but now, it gets a little cheaper"