Why Apple needs this cheap phone, in 2 charts
Sales are down and it needs to compete with everyone else.
Apple just introduced a new, cheaper iPhone: the iPhone 16e. Starting at $599, it’s not as cheap as the iPhone SE, which had a $429 price point and has now been discontinued. But it’s cheaper than the iPhone 16 (which starts at $799) and, like that version, can run Apple’s AI features.
The new phone uses the more advanced A18 chip, but it’s also possible Trump’s potential trade wars factored into the higher price relative to the most recent edition of the SE, which was released in March 2022. A Bank of America analyst said today that the iPhone maker would likely have to raise prices to offset tariffs. For users of older iPhones who have held on to them for longer, this phone offers an upgrade with better photos and battery life — for less.
Regardless, a relatively inexpensive phone is sorely needed for Apple, which saw its iPhone sales decline in its all-important holiday quarter as the iPhone 16 failed to drive meaningful upgrades — at least at that price point.
Apple has been losing global market share to lower-cost competitors. Last quarter, Apple’s global market share declined 1.5 percentage points to 23.2%, according to shipments data from IDC:
Last week, CEO Tim Cook teased this rare winter product debut for Apple, which despite his spin is struggling to really move iPhones.
