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I think the iPhone se is a response to the economic downturn. Apple needs to sell phones, this phone is too good of a deal. They normally wouldn’t release a pro

I think the iPhone se is a response to the economic downturn. Apple needs to sell phones, this phone is too good of a deal. They normally wouldn’t release a product like this. Edit: Dumbfounded that people don’t think the most valuable company in the world doesn’t have a plan for economic downturns. This model reuses parts already made. Somehow it’s coincidental it shows up right as the downturn does?

mcphage 6y ago
They also spend a while working on their products, so I don’t think they had time to change much in response to the downturn.
cmarschner 6y ago
A few years ago a phone with this price tag would have been a flagship phone. Apple defined a new category with their $1000+ phones
- scarface74 6y ago
  A few years ago? Apple released the original iPhone at $499/$599 in 2007.
Waterluvian 6y ago
It absolutely sold me. Buying an Apple phone wasn't even on my radar. I bought it and later discovered it has wireless charging. I thought, wow, this is quite the play. This phone is way underpriced.
simonh 6y ago
Except they did exactly the same thing with the first SE. It was, like this one, the latest top of the line internals in the previous generation form factor at an affordable price point. Thats the SE formula. It was even the exact same price point as the new SE.
gurkendoktor 6y ago
Then why did they release the original iPhone SE four years ago, when Apple was still on a steady upward trajectory? It also had great parts for the money. My pet theory is that business customers loved the original SE even more than consumers did. I hope I'm right, because then we might see an SE 3 as soon as the SE 2 nears its end-of-life.
milkytron 6y ago
I disagree. They've released an iPhone SE before, at the same price point. And the development of this surely has been in the works for some time, likely before the coronavirus took a hit to the economy. The iPhone SE seems to be a way for Apple to make the most out of the existing supply chains from older devices (same body as the iPhone 6S, 7, and 8 for the most part). They did it for the previous SE (iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 5s models were very similar). They just slap some updated components from the newer models into it and it's a perfectly capable smartphone. It is also probably relatively cheap for them to create an iPhone using older parts compared to the R&D involved for entirely new devices and components. It just so happened that the release of a budget iPhone coincided with a global crisis impacting the economy.
- NaOH 6y ago
  It’s also the same pricing strategy Apple did with the iPod, whereby they find a point of entry by price they’re comfortable offering, then they go up from there, presenting loads of increments. The latest iPhones—to say nothing of old models still available nor refurbs—present these prices: iPhone SE: $399/$449/$549 iPhone 11: $699/$749/$849 iPhone 11 Pro: $999/$1149/$1349 iPhone 11 Pro Max: $1099/$1249/$1449 That’s four models from $399–$1449 with 8 price points within that $1050 range. If a customer is set on some feature that’s at an undesirable price with current models, prior generations of phones are there to offer alternative compromises.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Finnucane 6y ago
They’ve been planning it for a while, before the economy went down the drain. Clearly part of the plan was to appeal to holdouts (like me) with old phones that were no longer supported. And it worked, I just got one. So far, I have to say, it’s pretty nice. It’s bigger than my old phone, but not obnoxiously so. And it is fast.
Foivos 6y ago
They need more clients to sell their subscriptions services like apple music.
intopieces 6y ago
I could only believe this if Apple had recently patented a crystal ball. The SE was in the works long before anyone was talking about economic downturn.
ksec 6y ago
>Somehow it’s coincidental it shows up right as the downturn does? The whole production line, capacity and forecasting started way earlier than the "downturn". Reusing component doesn't mean it can be done within weeks especially when you are talking about tens of millions of additional units. Not to mention the iPhone SE 2020 has been known to be in the work for a very very long time, and it is the exactly same strategy used in the previous iPhone SE in 2016. The only surprise for me was that they continue to use Intel modem and not Qualcomm X16.
- IndrekR 6y ago
  Apple purchased Intel's modem business recently: https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/intel-completes-sale-smartphone-modem-business-apple/ https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/intel-completes-sal...
  - ksec 6y ago
    The Modem is still Fabbed By Intel. So Apple only purchase the relevant tools and IP as Apple has no access to Intel's Fab. I was Surprised because Intel is operating at maximum capacity and it would make sense to cut the high volume low margin item like Modem.
HumblyTossed 6y ago
> I think the iPhone se is a response to the economic downturn. So, you think Apple predicted the pandemic (and thus the economic downturn)? Come on. This phone has been rumored for a long time.

mcphage 6y ago

They also spend a while working on their products, so I don’t think they had time to change much in response to the downturn.

cmarschner 6y ago

A few years ago a phone with this price tag would have been a flagship phone. Apple defined a new category with their $1000+ phones

scarface74 6y ago
A few years ago? Apple released the original iPhone at $499/$599 in 2007.

Waterluvian 6y ago

It absolutely sold me. Buying an Apple phone wasn't even on my radar. I bought it and later discovered it has wireless charging. I thought, wow, this is quite the play. This phone is way underpriced.

simonh 6y ago

Except they did exactly the same thing with the first SE. It was, like this one, the latest top of the line internals in the previous generation form factor at an affordable price point. Thats the SE formula. It was even the exact same price point as the new SE.

gurkendoktor 6y ago

Then why did they release the original iPhone SE four years ago, when Apple was still on a steady upward trajectory? It also had great parts for the money. My pet theory is that business customers loved the original SE even more than consumers did. I hope I'm right, because then we might see an SE 3 as soon as the SE 2 nears its end-of-life.

milkytron 6y ago

I disagree. They've released an iPhone SE before, at the same price point. And the development of this surely has been in the works for some time, likely before the coronavirus took a hit to the economy. The iPhone SE seems to be a way for Apple to make the most out of the existing supply chains from older devices (same body as the iPhone 6S, 7, and 8 for the most part). They did it for the previous SE (iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 5s models were very similar). They just slap some updated components from the newer models into it and it's a perfectly capable smartphone. It is also probably relatively cheap for them to create an iPhone using older parts compared to the R&D involved for entirely new devices and components. It just so happened that the release of a budget iPhone coincided with a global crisis impacting the economy.

NaOH 6y ago
It’s also the same pricing strategy Apple did with the iPod, whereby they find a point of entry by price they’re comfortable offering, then they go up from there, presenting loads of increments. The latest iPhones—to say nothing of old models still available nor refurbs—present these prices: iPhone SE: $399/$449/$549 iPhone 11: $699/$749/$849 iPhone 11 Pro: $999/$1149/$1349 iPhone 11 Pro Max: $1099/$1249/$1449 That’s four models from $399–$1449 with 8 price points within that $1050 range. If a customer is set on some feature that’s at an undesirable price with current models, prior generations of phones are there to offer alternative compromises.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Finnucane 6y ago

They’ve been planning it for a while, before the economy went down the drain. Clearly part of the plan was to appeal to holdouts (like me) with old phones that were no longer supported. And it worked, I just got one. So far, I have to say, it’s pretty nice. It’s bigger than my old phone, but not obnoxiously so. And it is fast.

Foivos 6y ago

They need more clients to sell their subscriptions services like apple music.

intopieces 6y ago

I could only believe this if Apple had recently patented a crystal ball. The SE was in the works long before anyone was talking about economic downturn.

ksec 6y ago

>Somehow it’s coincidental it shows up right as the downturn does? The whole production line, capacity and forecasting started way earlier than the "downturn". Reusing component doesn't mean it can be done within weeks especially when you are talking about tens of millions of additional units. Not to mention the iPhone SE 2020 has been known to be in the work for a very very long time, and it is the exactly same strategy used in the previous iPhone SE in 2016. The only surprise for me was that they continue to use Intel modem and not Qualcomm X16.

IndrekR 6y ago
Apple purchased Intel's modem business recently: https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/intel-completes-sale-smartphone-modem-business-apple/ https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/intel-completes-sal...
- ksec 6y ago
  The Modem is still Fabbed By Intel. So Apple only purchase the relevant tools and IP as Apple has no access to Intel's Fab. I was Surprised because Intel is operating at maximum capacity and it would make sense to cut the high volume low margin item like Modem.

HumblyTossed 6y ago

> I think the iPhone se is a response to the economic downturn. So, you think Apple predicted the pandemic (and thus the economic downturn)? Come on. This phone has been rumored for a long time.