Whoever told you that c stands for ‘Cheap’ in iPhone 5c was either lying or speculating without any concrete information.

Here is what Apple usually do. They release a new phone and make the old model cheaper by $100. This year, they did the same thing. iPhone 5c is essentially iPhone 5 in a plastic body.

Choosing a plastic body is not to make it cheaper to produce. Although it might be part of the reason, the main reason is, it allows them to produce phones in different color.

Why Color? Because that’s the next trend in phones. Phones have stopped being revolutionary and has become evolutionary. There are not very many features that companies can add. The reason is, phone’s form factor doesn’t allow user to perform many tasks. Phones are communication and media consumption device.

All major tasks that can be done within these 2 areas are currently being done by each and every phone. So what’s next? Phones have become commodity.

When things are commoditised, next step is to differentiate yourself as a phone manufacturer by doing things like color, style, cases etc. And that’s what Apple is doing.

My prediction is, going forward, iPhone 5c line is going to be adding much more to Apple bottom line.. iPhone 5s line will become more of a pro line.