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Comment by jaynos | Hacker News Reader

I find it hard to believe that apple couldn't make additional colors if they wanted. I don't think it's a lack of technological know how. They could pick that up without acquiring a entire additional company.

Limited colors on the iphone or ipod make sense. For the most part, it's an item that stays in your pocket. I'm sure some people care about additional design choices, but most people solve this by buying a case (which they'd do anyway).

Beats, due to the fact that they are headphones, are worn as head gear. Yes, they could have stuck with a few simple colors, but it's easier to justify lots of options when people will actually see your user wearing the product. This gives your user an incentive to want a more unique design and be willing to pay for it.

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I tend to agree. Apple played with a lot of different colors and patterns back on the old iMacs and iBooks. Then they moved to all white, silver, and black. I doubt Apple needs the help here, Tim Cook knows a few things about managing a supply chain, and if Apple had wanted to offer the iPhone 5C in 60 colors they could have. They chose not to.

I have to agree somewhat with this comment. In particular, is handling 60 SKU's really a huge problem with technology and management nowadays?

It's a pity there's so much focus on small details like that and the color selection, because that's really not the main point, which the article does touch on - the two companies understand and heavily influence the consumer market and fashion, so the partnership makes sense. It's that simple.

By the way, Apple was the one who made the single-look product cool, with the iPhone. It's so cool that its own colorful 5C isn't selling very well (by its standards, of course) [1]. Restricting its color choices was not only because of the difficulty in doing so, it was a deliberate design choice. [Edit, based on parent comment: And getting people to buy overpriced cases to customize instead? Genius!]

1. Google "iPhone 5C sales". Observe articles calling it, e.g., "Failure Flop" and "dismal."

The water there is kind of muddy w/r/t the 5c because in addition to being available in multiple colors, it's also basically 2012's phone. They took the product that would have otherwise occupied the "value buyer" part of the lineup, with last year's old model, and relaunched it as if it were a new product.

Is it that people prefer the single-look of the 5s, or is it that they are not willing to trade the latest-and-greatest hardware for colors? Do people care more about utility than color?

Personally I like the look of the 5c better, but I wouldn't endure two years of having to enter a lockscreen PIN when I could forego the colors and get a 5s.

The problem with the 5c was the price difference just wasn't very big, compared to the total price of the phone. It was rather a poor prospect if you were in that market at all.

>1. Google "iPhone 5C sales". Observe articles calling it, e.g., "Failure Flop" and "dismal."

Whereas in real life it sold quite well, and made a hefty profit, just not as much as Apple expected.

Other companies, including Samsung, would kill for the unit sales and protif margins of such a flop.

He did say "isn't selling very well (by its standards, of course)" intimating quite strongly that it was a sales success.

Thank you for actually understanding what I said clearly and meant.

Seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding of my original comment :(

@madeofpalk Your comment seems critical of mine. But I'm not sure what it adds except that it may have strengthened my point that Apple has a way to organize their SKUs. Please read the original article and see what I'm trying to address.

Handling 60 SKUs of similar products is a big problem. Multi-variant stock control and supply chain management is troublesome at best. If one of your stores runs out of green widgets and another one only has red widgets until Tuesday, how do you reliably sell red and green ones to customers who want one without buying so much stock that you are then at risk of a loss when it is end-of-lined?

Too late, the customer has gone to another widget stockist.

(I did a lot of work in supply chain management a few years back).

When you have a 2000% profit margin on the product, you can just trash unused stock.

> In particular, is handling 60 SKU's really a huge problem with technology and management nowadays?

Ignoring international power-adapter variations, Apple has about 40+ different SKUs for iPad Air (factoring in colour, capacity and cellular variants)

I think you're right for the most part. Apple probably doesn't want tons of variation in their products, for brand recognition. How long does it take to recognize an Apple laptop? They come in only one style that is distinct from most other laptops.

But as the author said briefly, if they are really releasing an iWatch, it would be different. It isn't an item that stays in your pocket, and the style would be one of the primary reasons for wearing it for some people. And those people who buy for style wouldn't all want the exact same watch

As a counterpoint, how long does it take to recognize a Beats headset? My guess is almost instant. The characteristic design is not entirely reliant on the colors of the plastic used.

Apple had tons of variations in the iPod line, and is opening things up again with the 5C.

I think Apple doesn't need to give you many color choices because the "bumper" protector market essentially takes care of that.

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