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

Spock said:
And then it goes from a $429 device to a $629 device.
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Says who? Apple is already overcharging for the SE's design. And even if the price increased, if that translated into much better battery life and a modern looking screen with Face ID, I think Apple would be rewarded with more sales. At $429 it's the cheapest iPhone with the A15, yet Apple still has to cut production.

I think that the translation is this: customers aren't exactly excited for the same old recycled iPhone 8-era design from several years ago, thick bezels, coupled with a poor battery. If you put lipstick on a pig it's still a pig. It's time for Apple to make the iPhone SE modern and improve battery life.

The market is voting with its wallet and that's a good thing. It's a strong signal that Apple needs to find an innovative new design to incentivize customer demand.
 
I would suggest that pricing something like the 13 Mini in 2024 or 2026 dollars is probably your target for figuring out viability as an iPhone SE.

My guess is that it may very well be close to viable - in Apple corporate rationality - by the mid-2020s but that is speculation on my part. One of the reasons I think why is that the iPhone Mini industrial design is already sunk cost and it seems that they plan on getting rid of it in the 2022 refresh. So they’re going to have this chassis design and industrial processes already sitting in mothballs that ought to have plenty of thermal headroom to run current or prior year A-series SoC.
 
SE 2016 user here. Was really hoping to upgrade to another small phone soon. I think there are probably a lot of us who don't want to lose Touch ID, but feel the SE form factor is now just too dated and unappealing.

If the Mini gained under screen Touch ID, I'd buy it in an instant. As things stand, I'm figuring out which compromise to make.
 
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It seems to show iPhones are more about fancy exterior than capable specs.
IIRC the 12mini and 13mini didn't meet sales expectations as well. Do people in fact prefer bigger phones now that everybody -not me- uses them to watch Netflix?
 
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lkalliance said:
These remarks always confuse me, when folks compare the dollar price in different countries. Aren't there currency exchange rates? I haven't researched it, to be fair, but I always assumed that that has something to do with it. In any event, isn't the relevant comparison to the price of more expensive iPhones in the same country?
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It is problem of multiples
* Their conversion is not market rate
* the prices is not exact equivalent to US$ prices
* GST/VAT adds another layer of price increase
* some markets selective products or selective sub products are sold
* some markets they pull old/discontinued products immediately from vendor (not sure if it goes back to USA for refurbished section or not)
* outside of USA, you will see hardly any discounts in some market

these at least I know ...
 
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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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I think this is the opposite. This is for people that do not want to pay a premium. The smaller phone crowd has the iPhone mini.
 
They need a dedicated design for the cheaper iPhone, one that actually is smaller. Or just start making some plastic to drop the cost a little more. I remember I think the 5S used to be plastic and they did so to drop the price.

Nothing changes enough to justify grabbing a new one. Just like 5yr old iPads are still not worth upgrading, 2yr old iPhones are just fine. Unless you really want to brag or blow money on the latest 2 features.

If you really wanted a cheaper iPhone you'd find old stock of the SE from 2020 to save even more money, but then Apple never lowers their prices. 4 yr old Mac Minis used to the sell for the same price they sold as they did when it was released 4yrs prior.
 
They could just use the iPhone 4 design on the SE. So it looks similar to the 12/13 iPhone, but still has touchID.
 
Are people's gripes with this also about the internals? If not, I wouldn't mind a phone that has updated specs and stuff, but still the same smaller size (if I were into small phones). If so, not surprised. Iphones hold their value and functionality, so it's not uncommon for people to be holding on to their older models far in excess of 2 years
 
Relentless Power said:
Sure it is. What other devices are you referencing that would be smaller than a 4.7 inch display currently offered? It’s one of the smallest smart phones even offered in this pricing segment, when everything else has graduated to 5.5 displays and above.
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The display may be small but the case is medium sized.
 
I'd imagine the average buyer of a 2020 SE could hardly tell the difference in this SE. But this news doesn't seem like a sign of anything except that Apple expected stronger demand than there actually was... I'm not an Apple CEO so 20 million is already numbers too big to fathom considering that's the downgrade.

And this SE is basically a spec bump... so kinda silly that it needed to even be part of an event or made a bigger deal of then it actually is.
 
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Not entirely surprised. I wonder how much the staggered iPhone launches impacts things too. The main iPhone announcements in September attract tonnes more media and general interest, and it’s likely many of those in the market for a cheaper iPhone just snapped up one of the older models discounted then too either direct from Apple or as networks shifted old stock.

You can pick up an iPhone 11 for not much more, and whilst the SE has better internals. Visually the 11 looks newer! Which is ultimately what matters to a lot of consumers.
 
Why would you buy a *new* iPhone SE when you could just get a used 11 Pro for about the same amount used on eBay?

I guess you get 5G with the SE, but if you're trying to save money I can't imagine you'd want to be paying for a more expensive data plan.
 
ACG12 said:
No one asked for an SE2.5

What people wanted was an SE Plus based off the iPhone 8+ design. Had Apple given us that at $429, it would be sold out right now due to high demand.
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I don’t know what the demand really is for that but I would definitely buy one.
 
I'm sure a lot of people were unrealistically hoping for a new design. in that case demand would have been higher. Also debuting this 'aging look' at $299 would increased demand as well.

I had the choice to buy this or a slightly used 128GB iPhone 11 from a friend for $250. I went with the 11.
 
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I would have bought 5 to 10 more iPhone SE's if they weren't out of stock at Verizon all the time. Can demand really be that low, or is Apple just pushing us up to more expensive models by creating an artificial shortage?
 
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jeffpeng said:
I do. And my SE 2020 is still fine. ?

I guess the actual problem is that most people this phone is for already have the SE2020. And there is no good reason to upgrade now again. Plus those folks, me included, keep the damn thing until it can’t do something important anymore or just breaks. Not gonna happen in 2 years. That why I was kinda surprised they even bothered to upgrade it. Especially since the A13 is 7nm, and that is dirt cheap as of now - so cheap they put it in a display just to drive the webcam and speakers.
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I think there’s a lot of us out there that said “good enough for me” and got a fast, future proofed phone. I thought about upgrading, but:

1. Kind of defeats the frugality plan
2. 5G doesn’t mean that much to me as I’m almost always on WiFi
3. Still no U1 chip. This is becoming relevant.

BTW, some of us have money to spend on a more expensive phone and chose not to. My wife and I are still using our 12” MacBook’s because we like the form factor. Rumors of the MacBook Air have me excited and I’d rather spend money on a couple of those.
 
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spatlese44 said:
BTW, some of us have money to spend on a more expensive phone and chose not to. My wife and I are still using our 12” MacBook’s because we like the form factor. Rumors of the MacBook Air have me excited and I’d rather spend money on a couple of those.
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Still using one here. What a great laptop. Better than a large iPad. Change nothing but give it an M1 and it would be amazing.
 
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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I'm one of the "I want a smaller iPhone" crowd in need of replacing an iPhone 8. And now I'm served VERY well with the 13 mini, which I'm going to buy very shortly. I think the current mini serves people like me very well.

Now as for those wanting a CHEAPER iPhone first before a smaller one, I would agree that the new SE is not the greatest product either, I bet many will fork out for the mini instead, to get the cheapest possible modern iPhone.

But there's still a market for the new SE, namely for those people who couldn't care less what phone they got, they just need the cheapest iPhone because everyone else in their family uses iPhones.
 
WLSON said:
They didn't do that because Apple's intent with the SE is an entry level phone not a small phone, the iPhone 12/13 mini cater to that.
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With the changes I’ve mentioned it could make it an entry level phone. The issue here is Apple over este instead the target base with a) wanting the same tires design and b) upgrading in less than a full 2yrs. ;)
 
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