So in 2016, Apple took the iconic iPhone 5S design, refreshed the filling and put it into production, and called it the iPhone SE. At that time, the iPhone SE made total sense. It was the second affordable iOS smartphone in history and it was a full-fledged competitor to Android smartphones at that time.
Fast forward to 2020, Apple decided to refresh the SE lineup, and again, despite the old design and tiny screen, the phone somewhat made sense primarily due to the pandemic. For most people, the budgets were tight and the affordable iPhone looked extremely organic and profitable. It was also a commercial success. It became the best-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2020.
Now in March 2022, Apple has again launched the iPhone SE with updated internals but with the same old design, and this time, people are just fed up and don’t care about the new iPhone SE. According to a famous Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple plans to slash production orders for the new iPhone SE due to weak user demand. Kuo cut his 2022 shipment prediction for the third-gen iPhone SE by a massive 10 million units from 25-30 million to 15-20 million.
And it’s not even the usual supply chain woes that have led to this cut, either. Ming-Chi Kuo mentions that neither the Ukraine war nor the Shangai lockdown has led to reduced iPhone SE 3 production. It seems the demand simply hasn’t been there. You see, Apple slashing the production of their handset isn’t something totally new. But the fact that it’s happening just two weeks after the launch is a clear indication that Apple users are getting smarter.
Apple can’t fool its users over and over again. And I’m actually happy that the iPhone SE 3 isn’t selling well. For one it’s difficult to look at the iPhone SE 3 and not be disappointed. I don’t think the iPhone SE with that design should exist anymore. It’s just a bad-looking phone at this point. Yeah, I get it, the A15 chip in this phone also powers the high-end iPhone 13 Pro. But having that power in this little budget phone is kind of pointless.
I mean it’s not pushing pixels or a high refresh rate. It’s not powering an advanced multi-camera system, showing off high-res imagery or video, or doing any sort of heavy lifting. The A15 solely exists in this phone as a talking point for media and Apple fans to scream, “It has an A15!!!!!!!!!!! And costs $429!!!!!!!” And they all took the bait. It’s like having this big engine on this small budget car.
Or imagine someone gifting you a gaming PC with an RTX 3090 in it and you attach it to a budget wireless keyboard and a CRT monitor while sitting at it on a metal stool. That’s the iPhone SE. And I’m glad that people are finally speaking from their wallets that it’s not cool to launch a phone with 8-year-old design in 2022. Let me know what do you think down in the comments and as always I’ll see you tomorrow…peace out
