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Apple Reportedly Cutting iPhone SE Production Just Weeks After Launch Due to 'Weaker-Than-Expected' Demand

ian87w said:
It will be curious to see how many people that originally wanted the SE ended up buying the 11 instead in the store, after seeing the SE and 11 side by side, and looking at the 11 with larger display and dual camera for just $70 more.
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If you originally wanted the SE, I highly doubt you want the larger screen/dimensions and heavier weight of the Iphone 11, to the people posting, this is not some mystery you must solve, there are people who don't want large bricks as phones, the people who buy the SE want a smaller form factor and a home button, that's it, the question is for those who might be able to live without the home button, does the 13 Mini's battery outlast the Iphone SE 2022, unsure, some Youtube reviews seem to indicate it might, some are not too keen on the battery.

But the amount of people here who feel the need to rant about a phone they will never consider buying is some sort of odd sociological mystery, there is your mystery, solve that.
 
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Shanpdx said:
yup, A13 based iPhone SE 2020 looks very good now with even more discounts ... that might be lowest end of all, and have iOS updates for next 3 to 4 years...
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You forgot to add a battery that has much less screen on time per battery cycle.
 
dannyyankou said:
I think it's more "I don't need to spend another $400 on a new phone when I just bought one 2 years ago" for the target market.
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My dad is 75 and finally had to get something other than the 3G flip phone he had been using with Verizon. He reluctantly bought two iPhone SE 2 to use with an MVNO. He isn’t buying another iPhone anytime soon. He uses his iPad 7 way more and prefers Touch ID that is consistent across both devices and has zero interest in Face ID. A lot of pent up demand for a cheaper, newer SE was taken care of with the SE 2. The SE3 will find traction at some point, but right now might not be that time.
 
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paulovsouza said:
Then again the iPhone Mini flopped.
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It didn't really flop compared to other manufacturer's models. But it should be obvious that at the top end it is easier to define market segments than somewhere in the middle where one guy doesn't need a good camera, the other doesn't need much computing power and so on. Certainly there are people who want a small form factor AND the best/expensive components. But not everyone. However, just putting everything into an antique enclosure doesn't seem to be the answer either.
 
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berrymetal said:
I get the whole "I just need a smaller iPhone" crowd, but I think it's foolish on Apple to count on that small audience without at least having a design refresh. Totally expected
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The SE3 is physically larger than the iPhone 13, regardless the that 13 has more screen real estate. The "I just need a smaller iPhone" crowd are NOT the target market the for the SE3. The SE3 market is the "I just need a basic cheap iPhone that works well, and doesn't cost as much as a laptop" crowd.

SE2 buyers were people sitting on old old iPhones, and then along came this cheap basic iPhone SE2, with an updated processor that doesn't lag like their old phone started to; bigger storage; and an upgraded camera as a bonus. SE2 thus sold well, as a lot of peeps on old phones upgraded.

Price went up for the SE3, and it's biggest selling point is 5G, which makes zero difference in real life, and kills the battery so you'd turn if off anyway. The market for them was already saturated by the SE2.

Nothing to do with it being still in the iPhone 8 body. People who want the prestige of the latest styles have the iPhone 13 to buy.
 
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Relentless Power said:
If I had to wager, this is probably the last refresh for the iPhone SE in general. I don’t think Apple will continue this train of releasing an entry level/budget phone by-annually. It’s really intended for third-party markets where smart phones in general are just too expensive. But when you look at the average junk android phone that sells for $200 in India for example, the iPhone SE 3 still isn’t competitive enough at that pricing segment of ~$429.00.
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Yep. The iPhone SE 3 is probably the last SE. Say bye bye to the concept once the inventory is gone.



** tho I admit I've been wrong before. In years past, I thought that Apple had once "killed off" the iPad Minis. And then a few years later... they revived them again. ?‍♂️
 
123 said:
It didn't really flop compared to other manufacturer's models. But it should be obvious that at the top end it is easier to define market segments than somewhere in the middle where one guy doesn't need a good camera, the other doesn't need much computing power and so on. Certainly there are people who want a small form factor AND the best/expensive components. But not everyone. However, just putting everything into an antique enclosure doesn't seem to be the answer either.
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Yeah, the Mini was a very niche market. And I think the SE only truly works outside the US. I think if they added more colors, and made it more toward a “kids first phone”, maybe sales would have been better.
 
sideshowuniqueuser said:
The SE3 is physically larger than the iPhone 13, regardless the that 13 has more screen real estate. The "I just need a smaller iPhone" crowd are NOT the target market the for the SE3. The SE3 market is the "I just need a basic cheap iPhone that works well, and doesn't cost as much as a laptop" crowd.

SE2 buyers were people sitting on old old iPhones, and then along came this cheap basic iPhone SE2, with an updated processor that doesn't lag like their old phone started to; bigger storage; and an upgraded camera as a bonus. SE2 thus sold well, as a lot of peeps on old phones upgraded.

Price went up for the SE3, and it's biggest selling point is 5G, which makes zero difference in real life, and kills the battery so you'd turn if off anyway. The market for them was already saturated by the SE2.

Nothing to do with it being still in the iPhone 8 body. People who want the prestige of the latest styles have the iPhone 13 to buy.
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You mean the Iphone 13 Mini, not the 13, the big difference is the performance of the battery, SE3 appears to be a much better battery, also there are people who don't like the notch and prefer the SE3 screen over the Mini for one handed usage, and you forgot about the home button.

What is lost to the people in this thread is that Apple is thinking strategically, they know their long term vision and plans, you don't, in addition they sell to the world market, not just to the USA market, if they are indeed getting rid of the Mini, for reasons only known to them, they want the SE to be the sole cheap/small Iphone, the bean counters have given Tim Cook the projections for the demand around the world, clearly the numbers add up, despite the lowered projections, I doubt very highly those lower numbers are going to cause Apple to rethink whatever brought them to this strategic map.
 
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I bought one. I appreciate that it has a home button (Touch ID), updated internals, and was a huge speed boost coming from an iPhone 7. I splurged on the storage upgrade, expecting that I’ll be using this device for many years to come. I guess I must be a weirdo, though. ?‍♂️
 
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lkalliance said:
The number of cases that would have to be adjusted to expose the sleep button is way way way more than had to be adjusted to expose Touch ID. Sure, otterbox cases and other full-protection cases protected the Touch ID button; but the vast vast vast majority of cases you can get out there have always exposed the entire face of the phone including the button. I think the number of case manufacturers that had to somehow re-engineer their cases to account for Touch ID was vanishingly small in the universe of iPhone cases.
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I’m sorry but I disagree ALONG with the plethora of cases for any model iPhone since inception over the years have NOT covered the Sleep/Wake/Power button.

I actually challenge you for just the iPhone 12 & 13 series, for all models, for all cases by each manufacturer that sells retail or online.

Case in point:
Sony Xperia line has several modes each with 3rd party cases and at a “minuscule” units sold where TouchID or a fingerprint reader is on the power button since 2014! Many if not all cover the button.

Why do you think that is? It’s the least likely part of the phone to suffer damaged. Even Otterbox (I may be misspelling here, doesn’t take away from factual information) has their cases with the ability to uncover the TouchID sensor on an iPhone. It’s made of Sapphire btw.

Not sure where YOU have bought your iPhone cases but there is a LOT more that don’t cover the sleep/wake/power button iPhones.
 
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It's time for the gigantic bezzeled iPhone design to just die, of course it has weaker sales than expected. Offering an ancient design at an inflated price is not a great combo Apple.
 
Maybe the price increase and lack of a + version has something to do with it?

If there was a + version I would buy one.
 
Wow, this article was posted about 15 hours ago and there are already 11 pages of comments?

Anyway, I'm happy I bought the new SE. It supports 5G and it was a great upgrade for my 6S. The last SE sold over 20 million units, so I wouldn't consider that a failure. Whether Apple makes 30 million or 24 million is irrelevant to me.

The 2020 SE is no longer available for sale, and I might have considered that phone if it was still for sale. The fact that iOS 16, and possibly apps, will likely drop support for the 6S this year is what influenced my decision to upgrade. I also agree that people who just upgraded a couple years ago aren't likely to upgrade to a new look-alike in just 2 years.

The article itself says "alleged" low demand. It's like people don't even wait to find out what's true and what's not before hitting the "post" button anymore.
 
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Cook has been doing this since he took over. Takes a 5 year old design, changes the color and says new modern never before seen, greatest device ever, fastest processor ever, best camera ever iPhone! and because we care so much about you and the billions we make, we are raising the price by ONLY $50-100 on each new release now!

COME BUY MY iPHONE BECAUSE WE ARE APPLE AND YOU THINK YOU NEED IT!
 
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sdfox7 said:
The article itself says "alleged" low demand. It's like people don't even wait to find out what's true and what's not before hitting the "post" button anymore.
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What are you saying - we should all not comment on the MR article/post until a few months go by or ?

We can't actually ever find out the real numbers or even really infer much of anything on how well a device is selling or being received. Apple guards that rather well.
 
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Yoms said:
I've just purchased a space gray 2016 SE model in stellar condition. New battery.
It looks like an iPhone 13 Mini so I'm up to date I guess and able to run iOS 15. Banger!
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Nice! Too bad it wont run iOS16 in six months. What'd ya pay for it?
 
I just think people look silly when they post things that haven't been proven. For example, I was told by reps at Apple and Best Buy, that the new SE 3 definitely wasn't going to have a home button, and yet here it is. I'm not sure what the purpose of rumors is, other than to confuse people.

The iPhone 6S was rumored for *years* that it would lose support for iOS, and yet the updates kept coming. Anyone could have looked at Apple's software history and determined they usually provide updates for 7 years on Apple devices. That's why I believe the iPhone 6S will not support iOS 16, and why iOS 15 was probably the last update for iPad Air 2.

However, the 6S is not that different from the 7 and 8 (same 2GB RAM and 64 bit which 6 does not have), so it's possible that it will in fact support iOS 16. I think a lot of it comes down to how much market share these devices hold, and if Apple wants to leave so many people using unpatched devices. I believe the iPad Air 2 is still very widely used and why it has supported 8 (!) versions of iOS/iPadOS.

iOS 15 Rumored to Drop Support for iPhone 6s and 2016 iPhone SE​


The exception to this rule was the MacBook Pro MD101 which supports 9 versions of MacOS 10.7-10.15, because this model was extremely popular and was sold for 4 years after its release. I own one of these computers and it's fantastic, 10 years later.
 
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sdfox7 said:
I just think people look silly when they post things that haven't been proven. For example, I was told by reps at Apple and Best Buy, that the new SE 3 definitely wasn't going to have a home button, and yet here it is. I'm not sure what the purpose of rumors is, other than to confuse people.

The iPhone 6S was rumored for *years* that it would lose support for iOS, and yet the updates kept coming. Anyone could have looked at Apple's software history and determined they usually provide updates for 7 years on Apple devices. That's why I believe the iPhone 6S will not support iOS 16, and why iOS 15 was probably the last update for iPad Air 2.

However, the 6S is not that different from the 7 and 8 (same 2GB RAM and 64 bit which 6 does not have), so it's possible that it will in fact support iOS 16. I think a lot of it comes down to how much market share these devices hold, and if Apple wants to leave so many people using unpatched devices. I believe the iPad Air 2 is still very widely used and why it has supported 8 (!) versions of iOS/iPadOS.

iOS 15 Rumored to Drop Support for iPhone 6s and 2016 iPhone SE​


The exception to this rule was the MacBook Pro MD101 which supports 9 versions of MacOS 10.7-10.15, because this model was extremely popular and was sold for 4 years after its release. I own one of these computers and it's fantastic, 10 years later.
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You skipped past my point -- we can't EVER know the ground truth on some of this.

If you are of the opinion that we shouldn't comment without that (which we can't ever get on some topics), over half this site would just disappear.

If I were you, I simply wouldn't worry about it.
Some rumors and information will be wrong -- it's just how it is.

I believe that Apple may indeed have pulled back on SE3 ordering.
A lot about that makes sense (per many posts in this thread)
 
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