I know all the pundits believe that the 5C was supposed to open up China, but that doesn't mean it is what Apple intended. As pointed out elsewhere in this thread, this is just the same strategy of taking last year's hot phone and bumping it down to the peons -- but ensuring they maintain their margin. about 20% of the cost to build the 5 was in the machining and assembly, not to mention the press they got on how easily scratched anodized aluminum was. So instead of a Iphone 5 with an aluminum back that's $100 less than last year's price, you have the 5c which probably adds $20-30 back into the margin for Apple and avoids some of those pesky customer complaints.
Apple (even if currently reviled) is not stupid. If they want to compete on the low end in China, it won't be with the 5c at twice the price of a HTC android. Maybe it'll be a 4c at a slight premium to HTC with a similarly high margin.