The iPhone SE 2020: A deal breaker?
Flagship killers have always been the trademark products in the smartphone industries in the past few years. Global market share held by leading “flagship-killer” smartphone vendors last year accounts for around 70 to 80 percentage of the total units sold to consumers in the previous quarter of 2019. Apple dominates the market with the remaining 20 percent.
You wouldn’t really consider buying a ‘cheap’ iPhone XR or the iPhone 11 since there are tons of phones out there that are equipped with better specs and better performance at that price range. So, Apple had to come up with something (way) better to capture the potential market being dominated by cheap high-selling android devices, especially in Asia. Here it comes with a new iPhone SE, version 2020, and what a time to release it.
Instead of hosting its trademark flashy events in front of tons of reviewers and fans, Apple unveiled the new phone on the 15th of April in a typical press release. Critics would unarguably argue that it is undoubtedly a rough time to launch a new smartphone. The world is tussling with a pandemic that is still showing no sign of ending. The COVID-19 has spread across the globe and has infected millions of people. Cities and entire countries have currently issued lockdowns, shuttering stores, canceling essential events, and ordering citizens to stay home to assist in containing the pandemic. As a result, millions of people have lost their jobs, sparking one of the worst economic downturns in decades. This downturn would unarguably impact the smartphone market in the upcoming months.
During a recession, the last thing that you’d opt for would be an expensive iPhone. So, the timing for the release of the cheap iPhone SE could not have been more perfect; those in dire need of a compact smartphone, with the latest A13 Bionic chipset, and which is future proof with years of updated OS, would undoubtedly get their hands on such a small device that easily fits into the pockets of consumers and serve their daily purposes. At the price range of $400, very few would opt for the competing phones, such as the Pixel 4a or the Oneplus phones.
Apple would’ve undoubtedly hoped to boost its sales revenue and demand in the smartphone market at a better time, however, now that most of its target customers have nothing to do but sit at home, browse social media and watch youtube, the company can focus on building hype amongst young tech enthusiast and regular consumers willing to buy a not-so-fancy-phone-for-a-cheap-price.
Here’s precisely why it isn’t too fancy- it does not have a dual-camera setup, nor a Super Retina display, nor the current screen-to-body aspect ratio. But it does have the conventional Touch ID that most people like, a medium quality camera with software-based depth sensor, IP67 dust and water resistance rating, and is equipped with the latest and fastest Apple chipset that no other smartphone industry in the market has. You get all of these just for $399.
To conclude, Apple is definitely breaking new grounds in the modern smartphone markets across the globe with its very own flagship killer: one that would be hyped for several years to come and grasp the market from its concurrent competing flagship killer brands.
