New Report Claims iPhone 16e Is not Promoting Effectively, However Does It Matter?

A brand new report from a well known leaker on Weibo claims that Apple’s iPhone 16e is not promoting properly. The leaker, who has offered correct details about upcoming Apple merchandise up to now, says that Apple’s effort to ship a lower-cost iPhone has been unsuccessful. Nonetheless, Apple reportedly plans to maneuver ahead with the iPhone 17e subsequent yr.

If we’re to take the report concerning the iPhone 16e at face worth, I do not suppose it is indicative of a failed product. By design, the iPhone 16e is a distinct segment product designed for customers who care extra about an inexpensive gadget than next-gen options. It is a strategy to appeal to iPhone consumers who, had been it not for an inexpensive iPhone tier, would possibly in any other case enterprise off and buy an Android. In different phrases, nobody assumed that the iPhone 16e was going to turn out to be a runaway hit sales-wise. That wasn’t its objective.

That mentioned, earlier stories from extra credible sources have indicated that the iPhone 16e through the quarter of its launch accounted for 11% of all iPhone gross sales within the U.S. That is about on par with earlier iPhone SE releases. And although total iPhone 16e gross sales have gone down since, the gadget at this level has been in the marketplace for almost 9 months. Does this make the iPhone 16e a failure? Except we all know what Apple’s preliminary gross sales projections had been for the gadget, it is unattainable for anybody to make that decision definitively.

Even when we assume that iPhone 16e gross sales are lackluster, it is necessary to contemplate that the gadget is not precisely a carbon copy of the iPhone SE. Apple’s iPhone SE fashions supplied a compact kind issue, usually with older applied sciences. These gadgets had been additionally priced beneath $500. The final iPhone SE mannequin, as an example, began at $429.

The iPhone 16e, nonetheless, begins at $599. It is also greater than the iPhone SE. So, whereas it is definitely probably the most inexpensive iPhone obtainable at present, it isn’t precisely as wallet-friendly as its predecessors. In consequence, it is doable that potential iPhone 16e consumers, upon seeing the sticker worth, determined to spend a bit bit further and get the iPhone 17 as an alternative. Thus far, the Weibo put up additionally means that “demand for the iPhone 17 sequence continues to surge, with manufacturing orders persevering with to blow up.”

All in all, the principle takeaway right here won’t be that the iPhone 16e is a flop, however relatively that the iPhone 17 has confirmed to be so extremely standard that it is consuming into iPhone 16e gross sales. Apple famously does not break down iPhone gross sales figures by mannequin sort, so we do not have an official strategy to confirm how robust or weak iPhone 16e gross sales are. What we do know, although, is that income from iPhone gross sales total have skyrocketed because the launch of Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup. And if individuals are shopping for iPhones en masse, at a sure level, it does not matter to Apple which fashions they’re shopping for.

One remaining factor price noting concerning the iPhone 16e is that Apple’s aim with the gadget wasn’t solely to draw cost-conscious iPhone consumers. Alongside that, the iPhone 16e was the primary iPhone to characteristic the corporate’s C1 modem. Apple has been making an attempt to wean itself off of Qualcomm’s modems for years on account of royalty phrases that Apple views as unfair and oppressive. Recall that Apple even took Qualcomm to courtroom over this a couple of years again, earlier than the 2 firms in the end reached a settlement settlement.

The bigger level right here is that the iPhone 16e was a means for Apple to check out its in-house designed modem on a distinct segment gadget earlier than introducing it on its flagship fashions. If there have been issues with mobile connectivity on the iPhone 16e, it would not have had a large impression on total iPhone gross sales. But when the iPhone 16e carried out in addition to, and even higher than, Qualcomm’s modem, it might present the mandatory proof for Apple to proceed with its plan to slowly section out Qualcomm altogether.

Certainly, a current rumor claims that all of Apple’s iPhone 18 fashions will ship with the corporate’s C2 modem. One other rumor, in the meantime, claims that solely the iPhone 18 Professional will ship with the C2. Both means, it is clear that Apple wanted the iPhone 16e to be one thing of a take a look at case earlier than launching a flagship iPhone mannequin with no Qualcomm modem. On this regard, one might make the case that the iPhone 16e has been a rousing success.