Commentary: iPhone SE is Apple’s cheapest yet but there's more than meets the eye

In his book The Silver Lining, author and business consultant Scott Anthony argues “customer problems don’t fade in tough economic times; in fact previously hidden problems are highlighted and old problems intensify”.

Like its predecessor, the new SE is small. It’s identical in design to the iPhone 8. And although it’s the cheapest iPhone to date, it packs a range of advanced features that mirror the iPhone 11, including an A13 bionic chip. Apple and Xiaomi were the only brands to achieve even meagre growth in the fourth quarter of 2019, whereas Huawei, OPPO and others experienced decline. A fierce battle between Samsung and Apple persists, with Samsung holding the most market share at 17.3 per cent.

Some argue Apple’s lacklustre iPhone sales performance in a competitive market fulfils the “haunted empire” thesis – popularised by former Wall Street Journal reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane in her book of the same name – which suggests the giant lost its way after Steve Jobs’s death.Apple, once a market leader, is now facing the “innovator’s dilemma” described by the late US academic Clayton Christensen.

This is evident in the removal of features such as Face ID and a large screen. The focus is instead on essential features such as a fast processing chip and high-quality camera. However, this market is also crowded. While services and software sometimes have higher profit margins, they won’t provide Apple the level of growth hardware originally did.The first SE’s release in 2016 marked the beginning of Apple’s diversification from its upmarket smartphone strategy.

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