There’ll be no iPhone SE 4, according to a reliable source of insider info. And the previous model is supposedly Apple’s last low-cost handset.
This is not intended to force consumers to buy pricier models. Shoppers are doing that on their own.
No more iPhone SE
The iPhone SE line is Apple’s answer to requests for a low-cost handset. The original launched at $399, and the latest version is $429.
But that third-generation model won’t get a successor, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities with sources in Apple’s component supply chain. As he said in a Friday blog post, “The supply chain has received instructions from Apple indicating that the production and shipment plans for the 2024 iPhone SE 4 have been canceled rather than delayed.”
He first said in December that the budget handset might have been postponed or cancelled. The analyst said at that time, “I think this is due to the consistently lower-than-expected shipments of mid-to-low-end iPhones (e.g., SE 3, 13 mini, and 14 Plus).”
Demand for high-end iOS models is strong enough that Apple struggled for months to make enough iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. It’s had no such problems with the more affordable models.
So many iPhone models
Ending the iPhone SE line would only reduce the number of currently available Apple handsets to seven. The company’s phone product lineup consists of four models from 2022, three from 2021 and one from 2020.
The iPhone SE 3 is $429, and beyond that there’s an iOS model at $600, $700, $800, $900, $1000 and $1100. With so many options, choosing the right one can’t be easy for average shoppers.
If any of these are going to be cut, reducing the number more-affordable options makes sense when one considers that buyers generally prefer the most expensive models.
The fact that these include the highest profit margin for Apple is a bonus for the handset-maker.
