Why Apple's going small with the iPhone SE
| MK
Bigger isn鈥檛 always better, says Apple with its new iPhone SE.聽
Announced at the end of March, Apple鈥檚 new four-inch iPhone SE is smaller and cheaper than previous editions. The latest iPhone editions, the 6 and 6 Plus, are noticeably larger at 4.7 and 5.5 inches long respectively.聽
鈥淵ou get the same 12-megapixel rear camera that鈥檚 in the much larger iPhone 6S, but for $250 less, at about $400. You also get the same speeds and graphics capabilities,鈥� explains the Associated Press. 鈥淥f course, you don鈥檛 get everything. The SE isn鈥檛 going to be right for everyone, especially power users.鈥�
Some of the shortcomings include: an older 1.2 megapixel front camera (compared to the five megapixel front camera on the iPhone 6S), no image-stabilizing feature in the rear camera or 3D Touch, and low levels of storage.聽
But there are a lot of impressive features added to the new small and sleek iPhone SE as well. Apple promises a battery life of 13 hours, a few hours longer than the promised life of the 6S. And while the front camera may have fewer megapixels, the SE has a front flash. 鈥淢ore importantly, it鈥檚 defying the design trend of bigger-is-better,鈥� says Forbes鈥檚 Brooke Crothers. 鈥淚 like Apple when it鈥檚 counterintuitive. .鈥� The iPhone SE is 鈥減almable and jammable. (In addition to being more usable with one hand),鈥� adds Crothers.
But a four-inch iPhone isn鈥檛 a novel invention for Apple. In fact, the iPhone 5s, only one generation before the latest addition, also measured four inches. But the most interesting aspect of Apple鈥檚 downsizing could be its impact on the Asian market.
China is now Apple鈥檚 second-largest market, and probably the one with the most potential. After releasing its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2015, its revenue from Chinese sales increased 99 percent from the year before 鈥� from $5.7 billion to $12.5 billion.聽
鈥淔or years, analysts have been concerned about Apple being unable to keep up its record-breaking iPhone sales, which have been largely dominated by the Americas and Europe,鈥� explains the Verge鈥檚 Micah Singleton. 鈥淏ut with its rapidly growing middle class, Chinese carriers continued investment into LTE penetration 鈥� which is at 10 percent and growing 鈥� and Apple鈥檚 continued retail expansion in the country, .鈥澛�
But Apple鈥檚 new iPhone SE seems contradictory, because analysts partially attribute the success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China to an Asian preference for larger phones. , but some conclude that larger phones make it easier to draw Chinese characters and they may also prefer larger phones for video purposes, because the smartphone is likely the only computing device owned by a Chinese customer.
鈥淎pple fans in China had been waiting years for bigger-screen iPhones and they are upgrading at a furious rate to the new models,鈥� Neil Mawston, executive director at the research firm Strategy Analytics, tells Reuters. Mawston says Apple was feeling the heat after Samsung won over million of Chinese smartphone users with its Galaxy Note 鈥榩hablet鈥� (a crossover between a tablet and a phone). 鈥淎pple really had no choice but to come back with a bigger screen iPhone for the 5-inch category to bring those switchers back, .鈥�
But will the Samsung-to-Apple switchers remain with the iPhone amid the newer, smaller model? That remains to be seen.聽
