UPDATED 03:55 EDT / OCTOBER 22 2013

NEWS

Shock, Horror! Americans Actually Like the iPhone 5c

When Apple launched its next-generation iPhone’s earlier this month, few were surprised to see the flashy flagship iPhone 5s outsell its cheaper, plastic-clad cousin the iPhone 5c. But in a shock new report from market analyst firm Localytics, it seems that American consumers at least are quickly coming round to the idea of the cheapish handset, even as the rest of the world continues to shun it.

Localytics’ report reveals that its been tracking sales of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c since the two devices launched, and while initial sales in the US clearly favored the former, data from last week shows that the 5c is suddenly catching up, with the ratio of sales dropping from 2.1 to 1.9.

That’s good news for Apple – which has, without giving any reason, been forced to cut back production of the 5c – but as far as everyone else in the world is concerned the iPhone 5s is still the way to go, with 2.3 times as many handsets sold as the cheaper version.

“In recent weeks, the iPhone 5c has been written off by many pundits as too expensive to serve its primary purpose of acting as a bridgehead into emerging markets,” Localytics posted on its blog today. “Now, one month post-launch, the iPhone 5c has been steadily gaining traction. Currently, in the U.S. the ratio of active iPhone 5s to iPhone 5c in terms is down to 1.9x.”

But the big question will be whether or not the iPhone 5c can maintain its positive momentum against the more expensive iPhone. Clearly, with the 5c price cheaper and available in multiple different plastic colors, Apple was hoping it would actually outsell the more expensive model. But with its price tag still hovering at the $800 mark, depending on your carrier, the iPhone 5c clearly isn’t the cheaper, mid-range model that can compete with the array of low-cost Android phones currently available, hence its not a surprise that most fanbois are happy to pay a bit more for the latest and best handset around.

Besides iPhone sales Localytics also keeps track of Apple’s tablet sales, and in its latest report reveals that the iPad mini has accrued a small but respectable share of that particular market, at 17%. That compares pretty well to Google’s similar-sized Nexus 7 tablet, which owns 16% of an Android tablet market that’s still totally dominated by Samsung.

It’ll be interesting to see how things change if, as expected, Apple’s unveils a new iPad mini with Retina display at its press conference later today, something that many a fanboi has been asking for.

Find all of SiliconANGLE’s Apple iPhone news all in one place with our full collection of stories on Springpad.


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