On Wednesday, Apple introduced the iPhone 16E. The model replaces both the iPhone SE and the iPhone 14 in the company’s composition. The new headset is the least expensive member of the iPhone 16 series, aiming for emerging markets, including India.
The world’s second -largest smartphone market (behind China) fed significant iPhone sales, with Apple recently Breaking the top five sellers In India. A week ahead of the release of the iPhone 16E, however, it is not clear what the device will have in this basic market.
In 2024, India became Apple’s fourth largest market after the US, China and Japan, watching a record of 12 million shipments during the quarter, with a 35% increase on an annual basis, per IDC. It is expected to cross the 15 million landmark this year.
But it was not the iPhone SE or the iPhone 14 that helped Cupertino, California, the company is achieving the South Asia market. In fact, the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 13 were the highest models sent, with a 6% share of the total smartphone market on Q4.
Even when Apple has expanded to India, the iPhone SE has seen a proportional decline. The iPhone SE (2020) represented 18% of total iPhone missions in its launch year, while the iPhone SE (2022) made up 6% of total missions two years later, IDC data is shared exclusively with Techcrunch. In contrast, the iPhone 13 was almost 40% of iPhone missions in 2022.
According to IDC, iPhone SE missions to India and worldwide refused to negligible volume in 2023 and 2024. Not even the year saw a new SE release.
Navkendar Singh, Deputy Vice President of IDC India, tells Techcrunch that almost two -thirds of iPhone volumes in India come from previous generation models.
Android dominates the India smartphone market, with an average smartphone $ 259. Chinese brands such as Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi have made great steps on the market. However, the iPhone is still a top dog in the $ 600+ section, followed by Samsung Galaxy smartphones. This means, in essence, that the biggest competitor on the iPhone is other iPhones.
The iPhone 16E starts at 59,900 Indian rupees (~ $ 689) and reaches $ 1,034. In contrast, the oldest iPhone 15 starts at $ 804 and the iPhone 16 in $ 919.
In a market like India, where older devices continue to sell, the price difference may not be enough to justify the iPhone 16e option above, for example, the iPhone 15, given the budget phone sacrifice. Retailers, both offline and online, also often sell older models such as the iPhone 15 at lower prices than Apple set sales.
What new features of the 16E offer may not be important enough to attract new buyers, given the popularity of the balanced monthly installment selection (EMI), which allows users to buy a high ticket payments. About half customers who buy a premium headset in India ($ 400- $ 700) choose to fund their devices in this way.
“With EMI offers, the difference in real terms would make many prefer the iPhone 15 or 16 above the iPhone 16e,” Singh said.
Apple has expanded Apple Intelligence to a more affordable section with the iPhone 16E. This could help the company drive more revenue from Apple services over time. However, Apple Intelligence is currently in its infancy and USA and will not reach India until April.
The 16E is the latest Apple iPhone to be assembled in India – along with other iPhone 16 models. However, the local meeting is not likely to affect pricing, at least in the short term.
Sanyam Chaurasia, a senior Canalys analyst, believed that the iPhone 16E could help Apple attract customers who could otherwise get an iPhone 12 or 13 – both of which are still available via retail channels in India.
He added that newer users could also choose the iPhone 16E, instead of the older 15. “It is a model that serves a specialized audience,” Chaurasia said.
Unlike other emerging markets such as Latin America and Southeast Asia, India is not a telecommunications market, where operators subsidize smartphones by connecting them with their plans. This makes the iPhone 16e a relatively accurate choice for Indian buyers.
The timing of the iPhone 16E launch also makes it less attractive, as this is not an era of upgrading, which usually falls around Indian festivals in the last part of the year, Chaurasia said.
“Apple is likely to have discounts on the iPhone 16E during the festive season later this year, but there would be similar discounts on existing iPhone models, making them even more attractive than this new model,” he said.
