Apple reportedly cuts Q4 orders for iPhone 5c

A Wall Street Journal report says that Apple has asked manufacturers of its new iPhone 5c (see our hands-on and first impressions of the phone) to brace themselves for a cut in the number of orders for the phone. Apple is said to be mulling cutting orders of the 5c for the final three months of the year, a source familiar with the supply chain situation said.

Pegatron, one of the manufacturers of Apple's new iPhone 5c, had orders reduced by nearly 20 percent, a source told Reuters today. Hon Hai Precision, the other manufacturer of the iPhone 5c, has also had its orders for the same period reduced by a third, according to WSJ. Reuters says they tried contacting Pegatron and Hon Hai for a comment, but had no luck, while Apple could not be reached for comment.

iPhone 5c production being scaled down?

The 5c is a slightly cheaper alternative to the premium 5s model, but as the initial sales numbers have shown, there is generally less demand for the colourful smartphone than the higher-end 5s. There could be a number of reasons for this disparity. For one, the 5c is only $100 cheaper than the 5s off-contract.

Secondly, while the 5c recycles the specs of last year's iPhone 5 with a couple of changes, the 5s is definitely a more improved version that sports the highly-acclaimed A7 64-bit processor as well as the much-celebrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor. The 5s also gets a brand new camera module along with TrueTone flash.

Both iPhones will be available in India from November 1 and it remains to be seen whether the Indian market will receive the 5c more warmly than others. This could very well be the case seeing as there is expected to be a greater difference between the prices of the two phones. Our Round Table explores this very question and you too can have your say about which iPhone will be more successful in India.

With inputs from Reuters