Apple 'halves production of iPhone 5c'

The smartphone's brightly coloured backs and relatively low price tag was seen as an attempt to make inroads into emerging markets.

Chinese website C Technology reported the drop in production and claimed that inside sources said sales of the handset had been disappointing.

Apple unveiled the iPhone 5c alongside the iPhone 5s at the company’s Cupertino, California, headquarters at a launch in early September.

The iPhone 5c was said to be the company's first lower cost smartphone, retailing at $99 (£62) less that the iPhone 5s, which came with inbuilt fingerprint technology.

The apparent decision to halve production could reflect the large demand for the handset after launch – an issue which did not affect the iPhone 5s due to a reported shortage of fingerprint sensors.

Both smartphones run off Apple's new iOS 7 which has been dogged with security glitches and download problems since being rolled out last month.

Security concerns were raised when videos posted online showed how would-be hackers could get around an iPhone lockscreen without a password, accessing sensitive personal information.

It was also discovered by one German hacking group that the fingerprint security in the iPhone 5s, which runs on iOS 7, could be cracked by using lifted prints. Some of the glitches were fixed in iOS 7 updates already rolled out.

Apple was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.