It is the dawn of the era of plastics in the smartphone industry and if reports are true then Apple will soon be riding on the plastic train too. iPhones have always been associated with innovation and to some extent had become the trend setter in the industry. But this time there are rumours that say the new plastic iPhone 5C will be replacing the iPhone 5.

The upcoming budget iPhone 5C is all set to take up the shelf space of iPhone 5. With a possible price tag of $300 to $400 the budget phone may not be within the budgets of many people.

iPhone 5 was launched to rescue Apple from the lacklustre response for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The phone did not disappoint the company and in spite of the initial scepticism the sales were spectacular. 2 million phones were reportedly pre-ordered within 24 hours.

So, why could the phone, which gave so much to the company, made to shift to the archives from the retail store? Part of the reason could be the market share cannibalisation. The iPhone 5C could be placed as a mid range phone, as the price may suggest, and the iPhone 4S could be the entry level phone.

If the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5 were to target the same price segment the two phones will eat into each other's market share. It would only be wise to remove one phone from the market. The iPhone 5C with its plastic body and scaled down features can be expected to be more profitable for the company, provided the consumers don't change brand loyalty.

The iPhone 5 is still a nice phone; the sleeker lighter design had won over many customers. But people planning to buy a new phone have to be cautions if they are buying iPhone 5. A phone tends to become quickly outdated in the minds of the people if the company announces that the product is discontinued. And although it may be time to say good bye to an old phone it is certainly time to say hello to the exciting new range of products from Apple. The company is expected to announce the launch of iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C this September.