14 DAY TRIAL // Apple today introduced two somewhat new products, an 8GB iPhone 5c and a cheaper fourth-generation iPad. While the less expensive tablet can be purchased just about anywhere on the globe, the cheaper 5c is limited to only a few countries. Worst of all, the U.S. is not one of them.
That’s right. An Apple press relations representative has confirmed to Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt that “the 8GB model is available in the U.K., France, Germany, Australia and China.” United States customers aren’t getting the deal, at least for the time being, according to P.E.D.
The new 8GB model popped up this morning – without a ceremonious unveiling or an Apple Store outage – featuring the new price point of £429 in the U.K. and €549 across the rest of Europe. China has it for RBM 4,088, Australia for A$ 679. France is an exception in Europe, as the handset sells for €599 there.
Marketed with the tagline “the most colorful iPhone yet,” Apple’s iPhone 5c hasn’t recorded blockbuster sales, though some analysts believe it was introduced as a decoy to drive sales of the more expensive iPhone 5s, which hadn’t seen a radical redesign in 2013.
“iPhone 5c is everything iPhone 5 was and more, in an all-new design packed with great features,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, at the September 10, 2013 launch event. “iPhone 5c is designed with a beautiful polycarbonate enclosure that looks and feels so solid in your hand.”
iPhone 5c arrived on Friday, September 20 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the U.K.
In October 2013, the phone was deployed in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Apple then announced plans to launch the 5c in a lot more countries on November 1, including Albania, Armenia, Bahrain, Colombia, El Salvador, Guam, Guatemala, India, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE.
iPhone 5c features a hard-coated polycarbonate body with a steel reinforced frame that holds the internal components and doubles as the multiband antenna. Apple also sells soft, matte, microfiber-lined cases that can be color-matched with the phone or used in contrast, with dozens of possible combinations.
iPhone 5c shipped in 2013 with iOS 7 pre-installed, featuring Control Center, Notification Center, improved Multitasking, AirDrop, enhanced Photos, Safari, and Siri and introduces iTunes Radio. Customers can update iOS 7.1 for free and get features like CarPlay, improved Siri, extra Accessibility options, and more.