Apple was expected to unveil two new iPhones this week, an update to its high-end smartphone called the iPhone 5s and a lower-cost version available in bright colors called the 5c designed to appeal to price-conscious buyers in emerging markets.

It did and it didn’t.

CEO Tim Cook introduced the new iPhone 5s, an aluminum-clad powerhouse in gold, silver and space grey, that replaces the iPhone 5. It also added the iPhone 5c and priced it at $99 for an entry-level model in the U.S. with a two-year wireless service contract. And while $99 is the lowest opening price for a new model since the iPhone’s debut in 2007, and while there are four bright colors to choose from along with white, the “c’ really doesn’t deliver on the cheaper phone that analysts and investors were hoping Apple would release to win over buyers who’ve opted for low-cost devices from rival Samsung instead in burgeoning markets like China and India.
That’s because the plastic-encased iPhone 5c, without a wireless subsidy, sells for $550 — $250 more than some analysts we’re betting. Steven Milunovich of UBS called Apple’s pricing strategy a “head scratcher” even as he praised the company for adding NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile service provider, as a distributor. On the flip side, the iPhone 5s should provide a boost to Apple’s profit margin. The iPhone is Apple’s biggest moneymaker, bringing in more than half of revenue.

“iPhone 5C pricing was higher than.