Analysts fear that Apple may have blundered by releasing two smartphone models at the same time.
They point to the fact that when the iPhone 5 sold out online with an hour of being released.
This clearly did not happen this year with the iPhone 5C still available for pre-order both online and through many third party suppliers. (The iPhone 5S is not available for pre-order and goes on sale on Friday both on line and in stores.)
Additionally Apple is normally super fast to reveal how many pre-orders it received in the first 24 hours but this year is the first since 2009 that it has not supplied such pre-order information.
Tech blog, Slashdot suggested that in releasing the iPhone 5C, Apple has risked “cannibalising” its own business, saying that users who might otherwise have bought the iPhone 5S might opt instead for the less expensive 5C model.
Additionally Apple is still under fire from many commentators who continue to argue that the 5C model is too expensive, especially in emerging global markets.
BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk wrote in a blog post: “The pricing on the iPhone 5C is simply not low enough to adequately address the significant global growth opportunity that we believe exists with unsubsidised prepaid customers that have not yet bought a smartphone,”