TMTPOST -- For the fist time in almost three years, Apple Inc. updates the budget iPhone in bid to boost sales of its most import product.
Credit：Apple
Apple released iPhone 16e, a new iPhone 16 lineup member, on Wednesday. The new iPhone model, which was highly-anticipated these months and deemed as the first iPhone SE update since 2022, offers same powerful artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities as other models of iPhone 16 series at a more affordable price.
iPhone 16e will be available in two optional colors of matte finishes--black and white, in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities. iPhone 16e will start at $599, 40% cheaper than iPhone 16 Pro. Pre-orders begin Friday, February 21, with availability beginning a week later, February 28.
Just as other member of iPhone lieup, iPhone 16e is powered by Apple’s latest-generation A18 chip with 6-core CPU up to 80% faster than the A13 Bionic chip on iPhone 11. The 16-core Neural Engine is optimized for large generative models and runs machine learning (ML) models up to 6 times faster than A13 Bionic. The chip allows iPhone 16e to support Apple Intelligence, an advanced personal AI system introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in last June, just like other iPhone 16 models.
Apple said Apple Intelligence empowers iPhone 16e with features including the Clean Up tool, Image Playground and more conversational Siri. Users also have access to ChatGPT integrated into Writing Tools and Siri.
The most distinctive setting the iPhone 16e boasts is C1, the first cellular modem designed by Apple. The company claimed it is the most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone, delivering fast and reliable 5G cellular connectivity. Calling iPhone 16e a “test vehicle”, Edward Snyder, a managing director of Charter Equity Research, noted Apple takes use of the model to get field data on how well C1 works before it release it into the iPhone 17, which is set to hit the market later this year.
iPhone 16e also features the breakthrough battery life and a 48-megapixel 2-in-1 camera system. Apple said iPhone 16e has the best battery life ever on a 6.1-inch iPhone, lasting up to six hours longer than iPhone 11 and up to 12 hours longer than all generations of iPhone SE. And it uses FaceID scanner to replace a home button. Apple in-house silicon--including C1--the all-new internal design and the advanced power management of iOS 18 contribute to the battery life, according to Apple.
iPhone 16e has powerful camera system as the 48MP Fusion camera takes super-high-resolution photos, so users can capture gorgeous images that balance light and detail. With an integrated 2x Telephoto, users have the equivalent of two cameras in one, and can zoom in with optical quality to get closer to the subject and easily frame their shot.
iPhone 16e is poised to help Apple reverse the iPhone sales decline, especially in China, the world’s largest smartphone market. Apple’s revenue for its first fiscal quarter ended December 28 climbed 4% year-over-year (YoY) to a new record of $124.3 billion, but iPhone missed expectation. IPhone sales edged down 0.8% YoY to $69.14 billion, whereas analysts projected $71.04 billion with an nearly 2% YoY increase.
What made investors more concerned is that revenue from Greater China sank 11% YoY to $18.51 billion, recording steepest decline since the quarter ended December 2023. That marks the YoY drop in Apple’s third largest region by revenue for six quarters in a row. Analysts had anticipated a reversal of the downward trend with revenue of $21.57 billion, representing a YoY increase of 3.6%.
Apple CEO Tim Cook signaled iPhone sales may benefit from the renewed subsidy program launched by Chinese government following the quarterly earnings. “There is now a national subsidy program that launched on Jan. 20, on categories that some of our products are a part of. It’s a fiscal stimulus, kind of,” Cook told CNBC. He at an earnings call on Thursday also noted the stimulus as a macro tailwind for Apple. “There was a fiscal stimulus or subsidy announced in very recently in January that did not affect the December quarter,” said Cook.
China in January announced at a press conference a raft of measures to expand the scope of the consumer goods trade-in program to stimulate domestic demand and bolster economy this year. Mobile phones, tablets, smart watches or wristbands for the first time were included in the category of digital products under the subsidy program. Consumers are able to enjoy subsidies of up to RMB500 (about US$70) apiece when purchasing digital products such as mobile phones priced below RMB6,000 per item. Apple China website showed iPhone 16e will retail for RMB4,999 in the country.
iPhone SE4 is expected to ship around 12 million and 10 million units in the first half and second half of this yar, performing slightly better than preious SE models, accoding to a post on X by Ming-Chi Kuo, a reliable Apple analyst who is well-known for his accurate predictions over a decade. The new model not only does help smooth out the usual seasonal dip in shipments, but laso blosters the adpotion of Apple Intelligence devices, Kuo said in the post at weekends.
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