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it’s puzzling that the central reason for SE iphones to exist wasn’t spelled out with respect to commoditization: apple shifted to a focus on services, first wi

it’s puzzling that the central reason for SE iphones to exist wasn’t spelled out with respect to commoditization: apple shifted to a focus on services, first with ipod and apple music, and now with everything else, apps, files/backups, video, news, games, iot, AR/VR, etc. the hardware is commoditized and sold at lower price points specifically so that the addressable market for services is expanded and revenue can be harvested from those offerings. note that services and secondary devices are the parts of apple’s business that’s driving its growth, not hardware.

snuxoll 7y ago
Save $350 buying an iPhone SE instead of an iPhone 11, maybe get an Apple Watch or iPad to go along with it with the money saved. Oh, now I have multiple devices and Apple services are so convenient. It’s a model only Apple can really pull off right now with their wide product range, vertical integration of services, etc.
- sq_ 7y ago
  > Save $350 buying an iPhone SE instead of an iPhone 11, maybe get an Apple Watch or iPad to go along with it with the money saved. I'm not sure this is what Apple's going for. What I've heard from family and friends about the SE is that they'd buy it in order to save some money while still getting modern hardware with long-term software support. I kind of doubt that the market of people looking for a $400 phone are too interested in spending another few hundred on an Apple Watch or an iPad.
- enos_feedler 7y ago
  I agree with the result here, that the iPhone SE is going bring down the average price of buying into the Apple universe. I'm not sure the average Apple customer is doing this kind of math to justify their purchases. I think you are projecting far too much rationality onto the Apple consumer. Apple doesn't like to create confusion around which product is right for users. The clear iPhone SE buyer is the lagging customer who, when buying the iPhone SE is seeing a technology upgrade given how far back they are. They don't want to pay the extra $$$ to skip too far forward into the future.

snuxoll 7y ago

Save $350 buying an iPhone SE instead of an iPhone 11, maybe get an Apple Watch or iPad to go along with it with the money saved. Oh, now I have multiple devices and Apple services are so convenient. It’s a model only Apple can really pull off right now with their wide product range, vertical integration of services, etc.

sq_ 7y ago
> Save $350 buying an iPhone SE instead of an iPhone 11, maybe get an Apple Watch or iPad to go along with it with the money saved. I'm not sure this is what Apple's going for. What I've heard from family and friends about the SE is that they'd buy it in order to save some money while still getting modern hardware with long-term software support. I kind of doubt that the market of people looking for a $400 phone are too interested in spending another few hundred on an Apple Watch or an iPad.
enos_feedler 7y ago
I agree with the result here, that the iPhone SE is going bring down the average price of buying into the Apple universe. I'm not sure the average Apple customer is doing this kind of math to justify their purchases. I think you are projecting far too much rationality onto the Apple consumer. Apple doesn't like to create confusion around which product is right for users. The clear iPhone SE buyer is the lagging customer who, when buying the iPhone SE is seeing a technology upgrade given how far back they are. They don't want to pay the extra $$$ to skip too far forward into the future.