In late March, Apple conducted another conference where the corporation introduced its new devices. The presentations took place in Cupertino, where Apple’s headquarters are located. As you probably know, iPhone SE became the focus of the event. SE stands for special edition. Indeed, the device looks like iPhone 5 or 5S but its tech specifications are those compared to iPhone 6S.
It is interesting to note that this is the first time in history that Apple has made a step back in terms of design. As you know iPhone 6/6 Plus and their successors - iPhone 6S/6S Plus – are know for having a much bigger screens than the previous versions – iPhone 4/4S/5/5S. The 6 series has a 4.7-inch screen while the 6Plus one can boast an even bigger screen – a 5.7-inch one, to be more specific.
Today, everyone seems to be wondering why Apple made such a step back. Well, that’s a difficult question to answer right off the bat. Some experts assume that it is all about stagnation seen in iPhone sales. The thing is, Apple published the quarterly results for the Q1 2016. Over the course of the first 3 months of the year, the corporation managed to set another record among all public companies in terms of quarterly profits, which reached 18.45 billion dollars while Apple’s quarterly proceeds were equal to 75,9 billion dollars. Still, Apple sold only 74,8 million iPhones, which is just 0,4% more than over the previous reporting period. The pace of the sales growth slowed down dramatically over the first three months of 2016. That’s for sure! On op of that, this is the lowest pace of the iPhone sales growth seen over the last 3 years. Some experts consider it to be a failure given the fact that this was the first full quarter of iPhone 6S /6S Plus sales.
As usual, smartphones remain Apple’s biggest driver. Nothing fancy given the fact that the sales of iPhones make up fro over 70% of the company’s profits. The thing is, some Apple fans are still not in a hurry to purchase the latest version of iPhones since despite being more powerful they happen to be way costlier than the preceding versions. It is interesting to note that UBS experts predict 2016 to be the first year when the sales of iPhones are going to drop down to 218,8 million devices for the first time in 8 years.
They say, 18 months after the official release of iPhone 6, only 40% of those who own older iPhone versions purchased the latest one. With that being said, 60% of iPhone users are still using older iPhones. Yet, it is not about emerging markets where the standards of living and financial well-being of households are declining amid crisis phenomena. The thing is that according to Kantar Worldpanel, 55% of iPhone used in the USA are 2.5 years old or even older.
With that being said, Apple is probably trying to make cheaper yet powerful devices by taking a step back. This is probably expected to boost the sales.
