Last night, Tim Cook stood up the stage inside Apple’s headquarters and launched a smartphone from 2012, with 2015 specifications and features. It was also the first smartphone from the most loved tech brand, which didn’t carry any number. Yes, the iPhone SE!
Soon after the launch, we witnessed a lot of spamming on Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms regarding how bad iPhone SE is, just because of the 4-inch display size. And, this morning, when Indian price for iPhone SE was announced, the controversy became worse.
Apple wants us to pay INR 39,000 for the base model, a.k.a. iPhone SE 16GB, equivalent to $586, while the same handset is released for just $399 in the US.
After steep price cut for existing iPhone models in India last month, everyone was hoping that Apple would finally stop treating India as the dumping ground and will rethink its pricing strategies.
But, that’s not the case with iPhone SE, or atleast for now!
Now, you got every right to be furious after Apple, but we all know the truth. People will still buy iPhone SE, regardless of anyone’s thoughts or true love for Android.
Still, there is one big picture each one of us is ignoring. Let’s talk about that now! And yes, this will give you a reason to our prime question, i.e., Why Indians shouldn’t care for iPhone SE and its steep price?
Why isn’t iPhone SE for Indians?
According to dozens of surveys done on smartphone screen sizes, the majority of people already stopped caring for compact handsets. And, when it comes to growing markets, specifically India, consumers are always aiming for bigger screen size.
A bigger smartphone is not only a perfect entertainment device but also a trend among youth. If it was the case otherwise, Sony would have sold millions of units of its compact Z series smartphones, which always packed flagship features in much smaller form factor.
Quoting from Nielsen’s last report on the same topic, published in October 2015, “According to Neilsen’s Mobile Insights Report, phablet owners are buying specifically for that larger size, with 50% of owners citing it as one of the top three reasons for their path to purchase. What’s more is that nearly a quarter (24%) list it as their top reason for purchasing-compared with about 12% for a brand or operating system.”
Another survey published by Statista confirms that “a total of 75% of respondents agreed that screen size is an important feature on a smartphone. Only five percent did not think it was important.”
These were some numbers, but if I go with my personal knowledge of the matter, I don’t think even a considerable number of Indian consumers would have bought iPhone SE, even it was launched for expected price, i.e., 30k INR or maybe less.
We all love big phones, and 5-inch is the “at least” number we all aim for. That’s the current scenario and according to that, a 4-inch screen size is way too smaller. A lot of people wouldn’t even consider checking it out.
Considering one more important factor here, there is no prime competitor for iPhone SE as of now in our country. So, consumers waiting for this upgrade will still buy it for the price Apple has put up.
Now, if we drop this “Indian” filter from our topic, and look for developed countries like the US, there was a huge demand for a 4-inch smartphone with modern specifications and features. And finally, their beloved smartphone OEM has listened and offered them the iPhone SE.
Finally, here are the positive features of the device…
First – Learning from its mistake with iPhone 5c, Apple didn’t use plastic build, rather went ahead with its quality standards, and thus, iPhone SE is a premium choice. Not to forget that Rose Gold color option is definitely a fashion choice.
Second – It packs the flagship performance, modern iOS, modern CPU, plenty of RAM (1GB RAM is enough for iOS), and 64GB storage option.
Third – The very modern, and powerful 12MP iSight camera, which is capable of recording even the 4k videos.
The only thing disappointed me was the lack of fast charging in the device. It’s high time, Apple!
Personally, I was waiting for a smaller form factor device, and after using Androids for years was planning to buy my first iOS device. This iPhone SE makes perfect sense to me, as it packs the latest 12MP camera (I love snapping), A9 SoC (everyone hates lagging) and a form factor which will keep me away from checking the size of the jean’s pocket before buying it.
I’ll be waiting to hear your side now!
This article is contributed by one of our regular readers, Pawan Kumar
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