Apple Says Lower-Cost iPhone 5c Should Help It in Growing Mid-Tier Market

Apple said its move to add a lower-cost iPhone 5c in some countries is designed to help the company take advantage of a booming market for mid-range smartphones.

The company on Tuesday started selling an 8 gigabyte model of the iPhone 5c in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and China, with the unlocked device selling for around $70 less than the 16GB model.

“The mid-tier iPhone segment is growing year over year and the 8GB model provides a more affordable option for markets where LTE is becoming more established,” an Apple representative told Re/code. The iPhone 5c, unlike the iPhone 4s, which is also still sold, supports LTE networks.

The iPhone 5c has not sold as well as Apple had originally estimated, a fact it doesn’t like to talk about but tacitly admitted in its last earnings call, noting the product mix was tilted more toward the higher-end iPhone 5s than it had expected.

Apple is not selling the 8GB model in the U.S., a move that may have to do with the fact that phones here are typically sold subsidized, meaning the iPhone 5c already starts at $99 with a new two-year contract.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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