On Wednesday, Apple unveiled the iPhone 16e. The mannequin replaces each the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 within the firm’s lineup. The new handset is the least costly member of the iPhone 16 lineup, aiming at rising markets together with India.
The world’s second largest smartphone market (behind China) has fueled vital iPhone gross sales, with Apple not too long ago cracking the highest 5 distributors in India. Per week forward of the iPhone 16e’s launch, nevertheless, it’s unclear what impression the gadget could have on this key market.
In 2024, India turned the fourth largest marketplace for Apple, after the U.S., China, and Japan, seeing a file 12 million shipments in the course of the quarter, with 35% YoY progress, per IDC. It is anticipated to cross the 15 million milestone this 12 months.
But it wasn’t the iPhone SE or iPhone 14 that helped the Cupertino firm succeed within the South Asian market. In reality, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 have been the very best shipped fashions, with a 6% share of general smartphone market in This fall.
Even as Apple has expanded in India, the iPhone SE has seen a proportional decline. The iPhone SE (2020) represented 18% of general iPhone shipments in its launch 12 months, whereas the iPhone SE (2022) made up 6% of whole shipments two years later, per IDC information shared completely with TechCrunch. In distinction, the iPhone 13 made up almost 40% of iPhone shipments in 2022.
According to IDC, iPhone SE shipments in India and globally declined to negligible quantity in 2023 and 2024. Neither 12 months noticed a brand new SE launch.
Navkendar Singh, affiliate vp at IDC India, tells TechCrunch that almost two-thirds of iPhone volumes in India come from previous-generation fashions.
Android dominates India’s smartphone market, with a mean smartphone of $259. Chinese manufacturers similar to Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi have made nice strides out there. However, the iPhone continues to be high canine within the $600+ market section, adopted by Samsung Galaxy smartphones. This means, in essence, that the iPhone’s greatest competitor is different iPhones.
The iPhone 16e begins at 59,900 Indian rupees (~$689) and goes as much as $1,034. In distinction, the older iPhone 15 begins at $804 and iPhone 16 at $919.
In a market like India, the place older units proceed to promote, the worth distinction will not be sufficient to justify selecting the iPhone 16e over, say, the iPhone 15 given the options the finances telephone sacrifices.
What new options the 16e does supply will not be substantial sufficient to draw new consumers, given the recognition of the equated month-to-month installment (EMI) possibility, which permits customers to buy a excessive ticket merchandise by way of installment funds. Roughly half of shoppers buying a premium handset in India ($400-700) decide to finance their units this fashion.
“With EMI gives, the distinction in actual phrases would make many choose the iPhone 15 or 16 over the iPhone 16Ee” Singh stated.
Apple has expanded Apple Intelligence to a extra inexpensive section with the iPhone 16e. This might assist the corporate drive extra Apple Services revenues over time. However, Apple Intelligence is at present in its infancy and within the U.S. and received’t arrive in India till April.
The 16e is Apple’s newest iPhone to be assembled in India — alongside the opposite iPhone 16 fashions. However, native meeting isn’t more likely to impression the pricing — at the very least within the brief time period.
Sanyam Chaurasia, a senior analyst at Canalys, believed that the iPhone 16e would possibly assist Apple appeal to clients who would possibly in any other case decide up an iPhone 12 or 13 — each of that are nonetheless obtainable by means of retail channels in India.
He added that youthful customers may additionally go for the iPhone 16e, slightly than the older 15. “It’s a mannequin which serves a distinct segment viewers,” Chaurasia stated.
Unlike different rising markets similar to Latin America and Southeast Asia, India just isn’t a telco-driven market the place carriers subsidize smartphones by bundling them with their plans. This makes the iPhone 16e a comparatively costly possibility for Indian consumers.
The timing of launching the iPhone 16e additionally makes it much less engaging as this isn’t an improve season, which often falls round Indian festivals within the later a part of the 12 months, Chaurasia stated.
“Apple is more likely to have reductions on the iPhone 16e in the course of the festive season later this 12 months, however there would even be related reductions on the prevailing iPhone fashions, making them much more engaging than this new mannequin,” he said.
