Demand for iPhone SE is 'Very Strong,' Exceeds Available Supply

[LizKat]

Kinda crazy how a 4 year old design can still be in demand. I'd definitely like to see Apple modify the design of the next 4 inch iPhone though...if they do choose to make one.

I dunno. It's a phone. Why fix what's not broken. I kept saying that until my 4S was practically crawling to the job, then got a 5C --which I did like although it was too big for convenience-- and after that I refused to get another smartphone until the SE showed up. I was in the camp ready to go back to a dumb phone figuring I could get by with a mini iPad if they never brought out another 4" smartphone.

Not to derail the thread (and it's not a derailment, since it's relevant to demand for new gear): Corporations in tech as well as other fields are going to have to get used to a new regime pretty soon. The focus of shareholders on double-digit profit increases has already cut from fat through muscle into bone, so unless consumers across all categories can be persuaded to pay more for less (while making less money and owing more for college), a reckoning is coming down the road. More and more of the youngest addicts to the coolest and latest in tech are now struggling with no-job or low-pay jobs and college debt. The appeal of the latest anything (fashion, phones, cars) changes when one is already looking at making choices between paying the utility bill and going to the grocery store. In fact such things don't even cross one's mind when one's in a situation like that.

That said, I love my SE. If they stick with a 4" model in future, I'll be there to scarf the next one up... To me, since form should follow function, the point of redesign should never just be cosmetic. If they jack up what's under the hood and keep the same form factor, I'm good with it.

 

[got556]

^Post of the thread

 

[thermodynamic]

I'd be more interested in the number of units made. Supply can be very much artificially controlled and used to drum up artificially induced demand.

The reviews have also spoken, it's yesterday's technology sold at tomorrow's prices:

http://phandroid.com/2016/03/21/iphone-se-vs-galaxy-s7-vs-lg-g5/

Note the article uses direct quotes about how the SE was sold as being, which only makes the comparison even harder for Apple to deal with - unfortunately.


**ON EDIT** It's not as much the smaller screen but slower CPU, less RAM, and so on. Some people can find things to be unwieldy , but for touch screens larger has been better (until 6", which is big). The 4" screens were always too small unless one had a stylus, which WindowsCE/Palm/etc used back in the day (early 2000s)

 

[Mac 128]

I'd be more interested in the number of units made. Supply can be very much artificially controlled and used to drum up artificially induced demand.

The reviews have also spoken, it's yesterday's technology sold at tomorrow's prices:

http://phandroid.com/2016/03/21/iphone-se-vs-galaxy-s7-vs-lg-g5/

Note the article uses direct quotes about how the SE was sold as being, which only makes the comparison even harder for Apple to deal with - unfortunately.


**ON EDIT** It's not as much the smaller screen but slower CPU, less RAM, and so on. Some people can find things to be unwieldy , but for touch screens larger has been better (until 6", which is big). The 4" screens were always too small unless one had a stylus, which WindowsCE/Palm/etc used back in the day (early 2000s)

Well it's easy to make your case when you lie about it.

The SE has 2GB RAM. The CPU is identical to the A9 in the 6S, which blows the socks off Android phones. Sorry. It's a ridiculous, biased review designed to slam Apple. No more, no less. You can smell the fear in the air coming from the Android crowd as Apple finally encroaches on its territory.

 

[JCrz]

I strongly urge you to pick up on sarcasm I've read Steve's biography and own mountains of apple products including a full working 512K and an Apple II.

Happy to take part in a "history-off" any day of the week!

I strongly urge you to learn what sarcasm is.
[doublepost=1461879156][/doublepost]

No, I asked you to point to evidence *disputing* the rumours. The rumours at least come from sources and various sites that have a history of accuracy. You seem convinced that it's not likely, but don't seem to have anything to back it up.

My original post pointed to much lower margins in the auto industry. Use Google. Look up two of the most profitable car companies and compare their margins with the iPhone. I'm not doing your homework for you but I'll give you a hint: Ford and Porsche.

Also, I was pointing out how silly it was that your response was to dispute rumors. Rumors don't need to be refuted—by their very nature and definition they are not founded on proof. Get it?

 

[uid15]

Use it? I can hardly hold the little thing. I tried playing with my niece's iPod Touch after having my 6S.... nope.

Just bought iPod touch 6th gen yesterday (yummy gold one!) - no problem with size in my giant shovel hands

 

[maxsix]

Lets just admit it, apple beat everyone to the punch. They took their numbers and used them to justify the need for a 4 inch device again and the device is selling like hot cakes. Soon we will see Samsung come out with their version of a 4-4.5 inch galaxy device in order to take some of that market apple has. well played apple, well played...

You're out of touch.

Samsung beat Apple to the punch. In 2011!

They created the Galaxy Mini line of small smartphones. Refreshing these popular models each year keeps them very popular.

So we find Apple trying to catch up... again.

 

[MarkMcl]

Do you know what freefall means?

Apple stock is in absolute freecall right now. 7% wiped out.

 

[GoCanes]

when the hell SE will be available in apple stores?! tired to wait

 

[efcgarv]

I think I will purchase SE soon, I have a 4s, I know, but i always liked the smaller phones anyway and having a small compact phone with iPhone 6s internals is the selling point to me.

I think I will skip the iPhone 7 and maybe wait for the iPhone 8 (or whatever it will be rebranded) as I think Apple is being left behind in certain phone design areas and an overhaul in 2017 over their iPhone line is needed.

My iPhone 4s is so slow I am deffo in the dark ages when it comes to technology. Yet, this SE looks ace and when the bonus come in I shall be making a purchase.

 

[Cooljam]

It's really a better size phone and always worked for Apple.
No surprises here.

No surprises? Really? I thought it will won't sell that much because it looks just like the 5s and smaller screen. I think we need to know the initial prepared stock first to judge whether the demand is really huge.

 

[MrGuder]

I think I will purchase SE soon, I have a 4s, I know, but i always liked the smaller phones anyway and having a small compact phone with iPhone 6s internals is the selling point to me.

I think I will skip the iPhone 7 and maybe wait for the iPhone 8 (or whatever it will be rebranded) as I think Apple is being left behind in certain phone design areas and an overhaul in 2017 over their iPhone line is needed.

My iPhone 4s is so slow I am deffo in the dark ages when it comes to technology. Yet, this SE looks ace and when the bonus come in I shall be making a purchase.

Wise choice. I think with everything going on in the news lately with Apple we are likely to see a whole new iPhone design in 2018 that will get rid of the extra space at the top and bottom for a true edge to edge experience. The current 6s and plus are just getting too tall.

 

[dannyar]

You're out of touch.

Samsung beat Apple to the punch. In 2011!

They created the Galaxy Mini line of small smartphones. Refreshing these popular models each year keeps them very popular.

So we find Apple trying to catch up... again.

Sorry but I think youre the one out of touch. Since 2011 phone manufactures have all moved towards larger phones. The only smaller devices you will find are budget devices and pre paid phones. Apple saw the opportunity to go back in time and revise a size that most people loved and take that market and they did. So please, don't try to lecture me on the phone market, ive owned every single major flagship android from every company and every iphone since 2007.

 

[dontwalkhand]

No Tim, the reason you have the supply constraints you have is because you insist on making 16GB the base configuration. The SE customers are smarter than that. There's plenty of 16GB SEs out there. The supply constraint is on the 64GB models.

Every Apple Store in Los Angeles was out of every 64GB model for every carrier, but they had loads of 16GB models they couldn't give away.

I have checked every store in LA and can't find me a 16gb space gray T-Mobile iPhone SE. Anywhere. I have even called a crap ton of T-Mobile Stores.

 

[olemann]

There are only 2 things wrong with the SE: 1. Max capacity only 64G. 2. World LTE band model only available outside the US.

 

[maxsix]

I wish they had released this a year earlier, I'd have gone for this rather than an iPhone 6! Always surprised me to see people, online at least, clambering for larger phones. How do those people put them in their pockets, I already find the iPhone 6 too big and I'm 6'!

Although I'm 6'3" I too find large smartphones bulky to carry.

Yet my preferred smartphone of choice, is my stellar Nexus 6P. Just 1mm taller than my secondary choice, my iPhone 6S Plus, I happily put it in my pocket and accept the size. Usually in my hand being used, the gorgeous 5.7" display is so much more useful for my requirements.

That said I do find it wise of Apple to offer the SE. Especially since they recycled the case and styling of the old 5 series, thereby assuring maximum gross profit per unit sold. Apple is certainly the master at making high gross profits.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

What did everyone expect? Apple has been completely stagnant since Tim Cook took over the company. Nothing new except for Apple Watch, and that is a bit of a flop because it is not a growth driver for Apple. iPad sales have fallen off a cliff and now iPhone sales are poised to do the same. The decline in iPad sales is a clear message that we are nowhere near the "post PC era" that Apple wants us to believe. iPad Pro has done little to jump sales, and it's hardly a "pro" product when it won't run a single pro application that pro users are accustomed to using on their desktop.

iPhone form factor has remained stagnant. Look at the new 5SE, it's basically a 4S design. Jony Ive should be busy setting new design trends, but instead he is busy meeting the queen and jamming with rock stars. Apple has gotten too complacent and full of itself. Apple is on the way out and ripe to be disrupted.

Apple's car will need to fly to save this company.

 

[martint235]

Sorry but I think youre the one out of touch. Since 2011 phone manufactures have all moved towards larger phones. The only smaller devices you will find are budget devices and pre paid phones. Apple saw the opportunity to go back in time and revise a size that most people loved and take that market and they did. So please, don't try to lecture me on the phone market, ive owned every single major flagship android from every company and every iphone since 2007.

But you somehow missed the Galaxy S3 mini, the S4 mini, et al. Not budget phones but smaller contemporaries of their larger brethren who were caught up in a nuclear arms race on size.

That said I'm with lizkat. I've been a huge fan of the Note series: the power, the size, the s pen. It's great at everything apart from answering phone calls whilst still looking like a human being so I was waiting for a smaller form factor (and the SE is smaller than the S5 mini). So far I love it. My failing Middle aged eyesight mean I struggle a little bit but not often enough to be an issue and the phone is fantastic. It's sat next to me on 18%, I charged it overnight Tuesday. That's as good as I got out of Note

 

[Louisq]

Nothing to do with price of entry level. I didn't want a big phone but wanted the features. Great phone worth the wait.

 

[dannyar]

But you somehow missed the Galaxy S3 mini, the S4 mini, et al. Not budget phones but smaller contemporaries of their larger brethren who were caught up in a nuclear arms race on size.

That said I'm with lizkat. I've been a huge fan of the Note series: the power, the size, the s pen. It's great at everything apart from answering phone calls whilst still looking like a human being so I was waiting for a smaller form factor (and the SE is smaller than the S5 mini). So far I love it. My failing Middle aged eyesight mean I struggle a little bit but not often enough to be an issue and the phone is fantastic. It's sat next to me on 18%, I charged it overnight Tuesday. That's as good as I got out of Note

I didn't miss those. Those were 3-4 years ago and they did not have the same specs as their larger brothers. They had slower processors, less ram, crappier screens and worse batteries. The SE on the other hand shares the same specs as the bigger flagships and better battery. Only thing lacking is front facing camera and 3d touch yet is priced much less than the bigger flagships. My point is apple BEAT everyone BACK to the market for smaller phones when Samsung and other abandoned the smaller device fad years ago. Apple took advantage and instead of a smaller less powerful device gave people little to no compromise with the SE.

 

[martint235]

I didn't miss those. Those were 3-4 years ago and they did not have the same specs as their larger brothers. They had slower processors, less ram, crappier screens and worse batteries. The SE on the other hand shares the same specs as the bigger flagships and better battery. Only thing lacking is front facing camera and 3d touch yet is priced much less than the bigger flagships. My point is apple BEAT everyone BACK to the market for smaller phones when Samsung and other abandoned the smaller device fad years ago. Apple took advantage and instead of a smaller less powerful device gave people little to no compromise with the SE.

Screen is worse too.

I'm not trying to have a row here but Apple have largely been behind the curve: late to the large screen market by about 5 years and then as they only have a couple of phones as premium at a time eg 6s and 6s+ they effectively left a whole market stuck with the 5s. What is different this time is they have been quicker to realise it and quicker to hit a less crowded space. They could have aimed for the 4.5 - 5 inch screen market and they'd have struggled I feel. As it is they have a whole field to themselves pretty much

 

[dannyar]

Screen is worse too.

I'm not trying to have a row here but Apple have largely been behind the curve: late to the large screen market by about 5 years and then as they only have a couple of phones as premium at a time eg 6s and 6s+ they effectively left a whole market stuck with the 5s. What is different this time is they have been quicker to realise it and quicker to hit a less crowded space. They could have aimed for the 4.5 - 5 inch screen market and they'd have struggled I feel. As it is they have a whole field to themselves pretty much

One could argue the screen argument. it has the same pixel density as the others. Its smaller size limited its resolution.

 

[martint235]

One could argue the screen argument. it has the same pixel density as the others. Its smaller size limited its resolution.

It's the same screen the 5s had (in fact they are interchangeable) and is one of the factors behind the battery life

 

[dannyar]

It's the same screen the 5s had (in fact they are interchangeable) and is one of the factors behind the battery life

And does that make it bad? Its still a retina display with a high pixel density for its screen size.

 

[martint235]

And does that make it bad? Its still a retina display with a high pixel density for its screen size.

Never said it's bad, just not breaking new ground technically.

Apple has spotted a gap that allows them to recycle some old (but very capable) technology at a competitive price point in a relatively empty market. I don't believe they've been competitive against certainly the Note (which don't forget is the real Samsung "flagship") and to a lesser extent the S7 in the larger screen market.

Now I've not had "every flagship phone by every manufacturer in Apple and Android" but I have been using Android since the G1 and this is the first time Apple has tempted me to move. I won't pretend it's a bed of roses (the AppStore is expensive and limited, I spent nearly all today trying to find a to do list app that does what I want that I can try out before shelling out upwards of £5) but at the moment I don't regret it.