iPhone 5c a Flop? Apple Reportedly Cuts Orders on Lower-Cost Model

Oct. 16, 2013 — -- The "c" in the iPhone 5c might now stand for cut.

After some drastic price cuts at Walmart and other U.S. retailers, the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple's is cutting the production or orders for its lower-end phone with its suppliers.

Apple has told its Taiwanese assemblers that it will be cutting this quarter's orders on the lower-end handset, according to the Journal's Lorraine Luk. One of the assemblers, Pegatron, was told to cut orders by 20 percent and the other, named Hon Hai, was told to cut by a third, Luk reports. Additionally, Apple has told a component supplier that it would cut parts production by 50 percent.

Apple declined to comment on the reports when reached by ABC News. The company hasn't released sales numbers of its newest iPhone 5s and 5c phones yet, but did announce that it had sold a combined total of nine million of the newest phones just in the launch weekend.

iPhone 5s Review: A Great Phone With Some More Forward Thinking Needed

However, the $199 5s, which has a better camera, faster processor and the new fingerprint sensor, has clearly been more popular than the $100 5c, which comes in a selection of colors but has last year's specifications. But analysts say that might not be a bad thing for the company if customers are opting for the 5s instead.

"Ultimately it is in Apple's best interest to have consumers adopt the product that reflects its state of the art and provides the best experience," Ross Rubin, principal analyst for Reticle Research, told ABC News.

Rubin also raised the point of the loss on units and marketing dollars for the company. "Apple has been heavily promoting the 5c; it's been the primary focus of its outdoor campaign and the first image you see when you come to its site," he said.

He also pointed out that Apple might have sold more phones than it would have if it had just gone ahead and lowered the price of last year's model, as it has in years past. Regardless, the reports seem to indicate that Apple overestimated how many people would want its new colorful phones.