Apple Is Strangely Quiet About Its iPhone 5c Pre-Orders

Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThe new iPhone 5C is displayed during an Apple product announcement at the Apple campus on September 10, 2013 in Cupertino, California. The company launched the new iPhone 5C model that will run iOS 7 is made from hard-coated polycarbonate and comes in various colors and the iPhone 5S that features fingerprint recognition security.Apple is usually quick to gloat about its iPhone pre-orders. But pre-orders for the 5c began five days ago and the company has stayed quiet.

That could mean nothing, or it could mean early sales are grim.

The 5c was positioned to be an iPhone for mass consumption. The colorful device is cheaper than the iPhone 5s and it has a plastic shell. But critics stay the price point at $99 isn't cheap enough.

Apple's silence may be the driving force behind its slipping stock. On September 13, the day 5c pre-orders began, Apple's stock was $475 per share. Today it's hanging just below $450, a 4% drop from yesterday.

How unusual is Apple's silence?

The Verge's Chris Welch sums it up nicely:

In 2010, Apple announced that the iPhone 4 had seen 600,000 pre-orders in 24 hours - the most the company had ever received in a single day. Things only grew from there. The iPhone 4S surpassed one million pre-orders in 24 hours, with the iPhone 5 doubling that success one year ago. Last year, Apple's update came on the Monday after pre-orders began, but the company's PR team has been mum today.