Why would anyone pay for a mid-segment Apple iPhone SE 2 that looks like a six-year old iPhone 5?
Why fix something that’s not broken? That’s the philosophy Apple seems to be going with for the iPhone SE, a two year old iPhone with a design that is six years old, inspired from the iPhone 5 (2012).
While the rumours grow in number, it’s now becoming increasingly evident that Apple may announce a successor to the iPhone SE in the coming months, before its usual September iPhone reveal.
A recent leak from Mac Otakara also reveals an alleged iPhone SE 2 being handled on video. The design appears to look identical to the iPhone SE and even includes a 3.5 mm headphone jack save for that glass back, which is different from both the currently available iPhone SE and the old iPhone 5.
While the smartphone in the video appears to be a dummy unit (because it was not switched on) we can assume that the glass back is in place to offer wireless charging as is on the iPhone 8 series and the iPhone X.
The rest of the design appears to remain identical to the iPhone SE.
Why would anyone pay for a mid-segment iPhone SE 2 that looks like a six-year old iPhone 5?
No matter how many iPhone SE Apple sells, they are profit making machines, since little is spent on the six-year old design with the only upgrades being the SoC (that should see an upgrade from the A9 to the A10) and the resulting battery life with the use of a 640 x 1136 pixels display (that’s not even HD).
But as pointed out by The Verge, Apple needs a new iPhone SE 2 because of the Chinese competition it sees in markets like India. While Apple officially never reveals breakdowns of its sales, it is clear that manufacturing an iPhone SE 2 in India will help it gain better market share against both Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Samsung. With outdated internals inside (if you call an A10 outdated that is), a higher resolution display with better storage variants could certainly help Apple gain more ground, especially if it’s made in India and is priced lower.
Manufacturing the iPhone SE 2 in India, will allow Apple better insulation from local duties, one that its arch rival Samsung currently enjoys in India, because of local manufacturing. Apple has currently begun manufacturing the iPhone SE at Wistron’s Bengaluru assembly plant in Karnataka, India. But as analyst Tarun Pathak said in an Economic Times report, it will have to manufacture on a larger scale to bring down price tags. Now only if the iPhone SE 2 was only manufactured in India!
