Jokes are good on rainy days...you should try it
probably - it also says that the price Apple asks for the phone doesn't correspond with the actual street value of the device. Market penetration hasn't been good for WP8 flagship devices in general. Compared to the Samsung WP8 devices, however, the 920 has been selling well :-) WP8 is a poor man's OS - which tends to be the case with all new OSs initially. The same was true in the Pre-Samsung Android world - Android practically only sold on cheap, mass-market phones. Only later, as the market share continued to grow, did expensive flagship phones start to take off. I'm expecting the same for WP8 as the market share continues its considerable growth.
sorry, when someone bashes Nokia, the fun's over for me :-) Perhaps I'm a bit of a Nokia fanboy. Or rather - I tend to support underdogs.
Yes and No.
Its no secret that Nokia/Microsoft were losing money on most Lumia and MS Surface devices sold, essentially loss-leading to buy market share and also paying developers to port Apps to the WP platform. Some weeks ago they were clearing Surface RT tablets with keyboard for CHF 299 which is a stonking deal for such a well made device (I know I have one) but a massive write down for Microsoft.
The 299 Fr. Surface RT still isn't selling at all. It's a crappy device with a crappy OS in my view. I had one, too and if I look back at all the gadgets I bought over the last three years (and that's a lot, you know me :-) I'd have to say that the Surface RT was the lousiest of them all. Extremely bad screen resolution, very, very slow, virtually non-existant app support. I was generally open (enthusiastic even) when it comes to Windows 8, but by now I've turned into an avid hater. It's causing me considerable physical pain because since they've switched to W8 at work I've been lugging my 15" Macbook Pro to work every day. I just can't work with this POS OS.
The 920 was clearly overpriced initially - Nokia thought that Microsoft had created enough interest in WP8 that it could pull off an Apple on its flagship range (in terms of hyping the fanbois into shedding any amount in order to get one). That clearly wasn't the case - it took them too long to realize that and change the price accordingly. By the time they introduced the 925 (at a considerably lower starting-price, btw.) interested by the tech-savvy crowd had already fizzled out and that one didn't sell, either. What Nokia's selling in seemingly very large numbers (considering the fact that they've reached a 10% market share in less than 6 month in all major European markets) is the low-cost phones. Those they're selling to the 75% of the people who'd actually only need a feature phone rather than a smartphone but can't buy one anymore because they simply don't exist any longer.
Its not my tablet of choice, but for work purposes my Surface RT is ideal. Full featured Outlook and all MS Office Applications mean that I no longer need to lug my work laptop around with me. Other solutions I've tried include the iPad+keyboard with various expensive Office Apps, Android Tablet with keyboard + same expensive office apps, Android tablet with keyboard + Citrix etc.. all very messy
Its also pretty good as a Netflix, videoplayer and the USB/SD card support puts it ahead of the usual iOS/Android tablet crowd
I bought it for the same reason but in the end I just found that it didn't work well enough for my purposes, either. I spend a considerable amount of time at work on my laptop. The Surface RT was too sluggish for my MS Office needs, I couldn't hook it up to the projectors at work because of compatibility issues (might not haven been the tablet's fault, but the outcome was the same) and the screen and keyboard just didn't cut it for me. I also tried everything else you mentioned and none of it worked well enough to replace a laptop. I worked with the computers they let me use (we don't have assigned workplaces, so I just grab whatever computer is free), which was ok until they introduced W8 this summer. Apart from the fact that the entire roll-out was a gigantic mess (thank god I don't work in that IT department :-), W8 on work computers simply doesn't work. No matter what Microsoft tries to tell us: the OS is made for tablet computers and even on those it somewhat sucks. On desktops, where you need a mouse to interact with the GUI, it's close to being completely unusable.
I agree it is a massive mess, my only suggested improvement is to assign the Windows button (Desktop<>Metro toggle) to a button on your mouse. Since doing that I find myself being a lot quicker. Hopefully 8.1 update will bring back some sanity (I've not really followed it TBH, so maybe it won't )
I haven't been following the W8.1 news very diligently, either - but as far as I know, WP8.1 primarily introduces a pseudo home-button (not comparable to that in Windows 7) and some improvements of the apps it comes with (the mail app, for example). There's not going to be much improvement in terms of desktop usability.
Hi,
Just a quick response to this off topic detour -
I am using Windows 8 on my laptop without touch and I am really happy with it. Best OS I have used. I will probably upgrade to 8.1 but to be honest I don't have any problems with 8. To make Windows 8 a pleasure on a laptop is really simple. Switch off trackpad right and left swipe. You can do that through the control panel after that it is a faster Windows 7. Also pin apps to the toolbar. Learning curve was really small between Windows 7 and 8 and I am not sure what is the fuss about the start button. I don't use Metro that much.
Anyway I noticed that Walmart and Best Buy are already discounting the iphone 5C. Must be moving slowly to be discounted so quickly.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/...ne-5c-discount
Also I was hearing rumours that Apple are having problems selling the 5C as the press built it up as being the cheap Apple model to break into new markets. It is interesting that Apple is breaking out the numbers of 5S and 5C separately.
Have fun
Martin
On-contract price. In other words they're movimg more subsidy from the network provider to the phone.
As I know, iphones 5c & 5s will be in Switzerland on October 25.
I expect to see similar supply chain massaging to keep 5S stocks back and force the 5C down people's throats.
I was in Media Markt Freiburg the other day and the 5S was characteristically scarce but the 5C was available in the full spectrum of colours. Seriously I don't get it, it looks and feels like a budget prepaid handset and yet its only CHF 100 cheaper than the 5S
why would they shove the cheaper phone down the throat, when they could shove the more expensive (hence, more profitable) phone? Is there any chance that consumers bought out all the 5S stock, and ignored the 5C, since it's only 100CHF more expensive?
I haven't seen either yet, but specs-wise, the 5C is an upgraded 5, so that's hardly a "budget" phone - which may explain the price. Looks are obviously subjective, so whatever turns you off, may work for others.
Prior to launch, stock allocations of the 5S were very limited. Some stores were receiving a handful of 5S handsets but box loads of the 5C. One way to guarantee the success of the 5C is make it instantly available but have 3-4 week waits for the 5S. As for profit margins, I am not sure they do make much more on the 5S than the 5C considering the cost to build is commensurately higher (fingerprint reader, better camera etc..).
A good advice
Many reviews are very positive for the 5C. They're saying it feels much nicer to hold (very nicely curved plastic), doesn't scratch or dent during normal handling and the colours add a touch of, well, colour.
I have a 3GS and I really like the curved plastic back much more than the 5 for example, which feels too light and harsh to hold.
The 5S has a better low-light camera (very useful imo), a fingerprint reader (not useful, but good to have as unlocking is a step easier), a 64-bit chip (I couldn't care less) and goes up to 64GB (I'll buy the 16GB one so don't care about that either).
So for me, the choice is: save a bit of cash with the 5C and get a phone I much prefer in the hand or spend the extra and get a 5S with a better indoors camera and probably better resale price.
Yep, if you don't feel that you can benefit from the features of the 5S then I think the 5C would suit you very nicely.
I'm tied into the 5S because I want the slow motion camara, and the potential of the M7 motion sensor (which I am sure will find it's way into the eventual iWatch but whatever).
You can 'unpimp' an iPhone 5S to a 5C by adding any plastic back cover you like.
Here is my favourite
Looks like their gamble didn't pay off.. which is not surprising considering the 5C looks and feels budget, and yet has a premium price tag.
Apple SLASHES iPhone 5C orders amid weak demand wobbles
Apple has told its hardware makers to cut back on iPhone 5C volumes for the fourth quarter, sparking concerns that demand for the devices might be weaker than expected.
The 5C went on sale in September along with the high-end 5S, with both models hitting 11 markets – including the US and China – at once, for the first time.
The 5C is a plastic-clad phone that tries to occupy the middle ground. At $100 less than the 5S, it's cheaper, but not really cheap enough to be a budget model, a fact that may be affecting its adoption by fanbois and fangurlz.
Apple told its Taiwanese suppliers Pegatron and Foxconn that it was cutting shipments of the 5C, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The fruity firm told Pegatron, which supplies around two thirds of the phones, that orders would have less than 20 per cent shaved off, but it told Foxconn (aka Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.), which takes care of the rest, that its orders would be slashed by a third.
Another supplier that deals in the parts of the cheaper iPhone model was told that orders on 5C bits and pieces were going to be halved, which could signal a slowdown on the mobes for next year as well.
Analysts and investors have been pushing Apple to start looking at the lower end of the mobile market as growth in the high end smartphone business slows, but so far this version of a cheaper iPhone looks like a fail.
The company said it had sold nine million iPhone 5 mobes in total in its debut weekend, but it didn't break those sales down by model. Foxconn said that as well as cutting orders for the 5C, Cupertino said it would need more of the 5S models for the fourth quarter.
Apple's website says (at the time of writing) that new orders of the 5S will be delayed for weeks, indicating that the more expensive phone is outselling the slightly cheaper model. ®