Only a few days ago the New York Times revealed that Alphabet was close to overtaking Apple as the most valuable company in the world. We also learned that the iPhone accounts for approximately 60 percent of Apple’s revenues and an even bigger chunk of its profit margin.
Now once again yet another major tech release rumor seems to have conveniently leaked to the world’s press if recent rumors of Apple’s launching a new 4-inch iPhone in March are to be believed.
In a world where smartphones are reaching ridiculous sizes, the so-called 5SE could be an antidote to those who are happier with a smaller phone, the appearance of which can be probably best described as a mini iPhone 6.Although a smaller 4-inch iPhone that is expected to sell for $450 is far from a cheap alternative, it supposedly has the same internal specifications as the larger iPhone 6 including the same camera as well as the new favorites Apple Pay and Live Photos.
Although it’s important to remember that all this talk is straight out of the rumor mill for now, there however does seem to be a familiar pattern developing pre-release with each Apple product iteration. Assuming the smaller iPhone is revealed in March with an April release, it would likely boost interest in and sales of the currently stagnating iPhone.
There is a large user-base that cannot afford the current generation of expensive iPhones but would likely go back to the era of the smaller cheaper iPhone running the user-friendly iOS that they used to love before all the insane pricing structure and expensive 24-month contracts with larger screens arrived on the scene.
Upon hearing the latest rumors, I ran a small informal verbal survey on all my friends’ teenage kids inquiring if they would choose a smaller 4” iPhone over a larger 5.
5” Android device? Given the popularity of the larger screens, I was quite surprised and frankly taken aback at their unanimous response of “4 inch iPhone any day!” On further probing why they would choose a tiny iPhone over a much larger-screened Android device that could perform the same tasks, their response was quite enlightening:“At school, we have an ongoing joke about how poor Android phone’s cameras are. Regardless of how many megapixels they have, cameras on Android feel like they were made in 2007”
Despite my biases, it seems that it was the quality and reputation of the iPhone’s superior camera that allowed them to get the best quality shots onto Instagram or their Snapchat Live Stories and be able to stream on apps such as Periscope. Besides, it is not easy to get an iPhone 6S Plus entirely into the pocket of a teenage kid’s jeans as part of it usually protrudes out especially in those snug designer jeans that these kids usually wear nowadays.
There is also the emergence of wearable technology to consider that is attempting to wean us off the constant staring down at our phones so that we can catch notifications on our watches and continue carrying on with our non-electronic lives. So maybe there exists a market for a smaller iPhone after all?
Whether it is to attract an older more price conscious audience (although given my weakening eyesight over the years, I’d imagine that the older one got the larger they’d want their screens to be) or the younger users who only want to have an Apple 8MP and 1.2MP camera at their disposal, it’s clear that this new model will be tapping into a slightly different market of individuals implying that it will likely not cannibalize sales of the larger sized models.
For me, personally, the size and spec of this iPhone for nearly $500 makes it poor value compared to the bigger and better devices available for the same money, but looking at the results of my mini-straw poll coupled with the thousands of positive comments and shares of the rumors online suggest that I might be in the minority on this one.
Would a smaller 4” iPhone be of interest to anyone in your family? Do you think this is a good move by Apple or do you fail to understand the appeal?
(NASDAQ: AAPL) Published on Retire.ly with permission from Anurag