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On Wednesday , Appleunveiledthe iPhone 16e . The model supervene upon both the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 in the company ’s card . The fresh French telephone is the least expensive fellow member of the iPhone 16 lineup , aim at emerging market place , let in India .
The world ’s second largest smartphone securities industry ( behind China ) has fueled significant iPhone sales agreement , with Apple recentlycracking the top five vendorsin India . A week beforehand of the iPhone 16e ’s release , however , it ’s ill-defined what impact the gadget will have on this key market .
In 2024 , India became the fourthly largest market for Apple , after the U.S. , China , and Japan , seeing a record 12 million freight during the fourth part , with 35 % YoY emergence , perIDC . It is expected to traverse the 15 million milepost this yr .
But it was n’t the iPhone SE or iPhone 14 that serve the Cupertino , California , troupe succeed in the South Asian market . In fact , the iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 were the highest ship models , with a 6 % share of overall smartphone market in Q4 .
Even as Apple has expanded in India , the iPhone SE has take care a proportional descent . The iPhone SE ( 2020 ) represented 18 % of overall iPhone shipments in its launch class , while the iPhone SE ( 2022 ) made up 6 % of full shipments two years later , per IDC data shared exclusively with TechCrunch . In direct contrast , the iPhone 13 made up nearly 40 % of iPhone shipments in 2022 .
According to IDC , iPhone SE shipments in India and globally declined to negligible volume in 2023 and 2024 . Neither year go out a new SE release .
Navkendar Singh , associate frailty president at IDC India , tells TechCrunch that closely two - thirds of iPhone volumes in India get from previous - generation role model .
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Android dominates India ’s smartphone market , with an fair smartphone of $ 259 . Formosan brands such as Vivo , Oppo , and Xiaomi have made great strides in the market . However , the iPhone is still top dog in the $ 600 + market segment , follow by Samsung Galaxy smartphones . This means , in essence , that the iPhone ’s biggest challenger is other iPhones .
The iPhone 16e start at 59,900 Amerindic Pakistani rupee ( ~$689 ) and goes up to $ 1,034 . In contrast , the older iPhone 15 starts at $ 804 and iPhone 16 at $ 919 .
In a market like India , where sometime machine uphold to sell , the price difference may not be enough to justify choosing the iPhone 16e over , say , the iPhone 15 , given the feature the budget phone sacrifices . Retailers , both offline and online , also often sell older poser like the iPhone 15 at lower prices than the ace set by Apple to promote sales .
What young sport the 16e does provide may not be solid enough to pull in new buyers , give the popularity of the compare monthly instalment ( EMI ) option , which take into account substance abuser to buy a high ticket item via installment payments . Roughly half of customer purchasing a bounty French telephone in India ( $ 400-$700 ) opt to finance their gadget this style .
“ With EMI offers , the difference in real terms would make many prefer the iPhone 15 or 16 over the iPhone 16Ee , ” Singh said .
Apple has extend Apple Intelligence to a more affordable segment with the iPhone 16e . This could help the ship’s company push back more Apple Services revenues over time . However , Apple Intelligence is currently in its babyhood and in the U.S. and wo n’t arrive in India until April .
The 16e is Apple ’s in style iPhone to be get together in India — alongside the other iPhone 16 models . However , local assembly is n’t likely to impact the pricing , at least in the short terminus .
Sanyam Chaurasia , a older analyst at Canalys , believed that the iPhone 16e might avail Apple appeal client who might otherwise pick up an iPhone 12 or 13 — both of which are still uncommitted through retail channels in India .
He added that young drug user might also prefer for the iPhone 16e , rather than the old 15 . “ It ’s a model which serves a niche interview , ” Chaurasia say .
Unlike other emerge markets such as Latin America and Southeast Asia , India is not a telco - driven market where attack aircraft carrier subsidize smartphones by bundling them with their plan . This makes the iPhone 16e a relatively expensive option for Indian buyer .
The timing of launch the iPhone 16e also make it less attractive , as this is not an upgrade season , which usually falls around Amerindic festivals in the late part of the class , Chaurasia said .
“ Apple is probable to have rebate on the iPhone 16e during the gay season after this year , but there would also be similar discount on the be iPhone models , making them even more attractive than this new simulation , ” he submit .
