Apple (AAPL) seems to have a generally positive sales from the newly launched iPhone 5C. But it can’t be ignored that there is an inventory build-up for the product.

The iPhone 5C, with it’s plastic backing, is thought of as the ‘cheaper’ model of the famous iPhone. With the launch of the counterpart iPhone 5S, the price of the iPhone 5C was expected to be relatively cheaper. However, in countries like India, the price for the phone is still just too high. Despite the marketing strategy to be more affordable to more populations throughout the world, iPhone 5C still seems to be an expensive product to many countries.

For example, the price for a 16GB iPhone 5C in India is RS 41,900, whereas the price for a 16GB iPhone 5S is RS 53,500. This hints that the price difference between the two models is not enough to be an incentive for people to buy the iPhone 5C. Personally, it seems logical that the price of the iPhone 5C is much cheaper than the iPhone 5S. After all, the iPhone 5C is playing the role of a ‘subsitute’ from the same company, in hopes to penetrate a bigger customer context.

In this case, I feel like Apple is doing more harm to itself in terms of sales. As the inventory build-up shows, launching two products with no significant price difference will only harm the overall marketing technique than benefit it.

Picture Source: http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/522f5a116da8114a184b3994/apples-new-iphone-5c-is-plastic-beautifully-unapologetically-plastic.jpg

Article Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-14/hardware/44073068_1_iphone-4s-iphone-5s-gartner