Apple launches cheaper iPhone as epidemic limits spending

Apple is releasing a new iPhone that will be vastly cheaper than the models it rolled out last fall at a time when the economy was flourishing and the plague had yet to force people to rethink their expenses.

According to details, the second-generation iPhone SE introduced on Wednesday will sell for as little as $399, a 40 per cent markdown from the most affordable iPhone 11 unveiled in 2019.

The company said higher-end versions of the iPhone 11 sell for more than $1,000. Online orders for the iPhone SE will begin Friday, with the first deliveries likely 24 April 2020.

Even before the outbreak, many people had begun to balk at the substantial price tags for smartphones that weren’t that much better than the ones they already owned. That pushed Apple to step up its emphasis on music and video services to the more than 1 billion people who carry around at least one of their internet-connected devices.

High-priced gadgets are expected to become an even tougher sell as the economy plunges into its deepest downturn in more than a decade.

Apple maps out its products many months in advance and the new iPhone SE isn’t a direct response to the economic meltdown hatched by the pandemic. Even though the iPhone SE will sell at a price that seems right for the tough times ahead, it is an extraordinarily difficult time to introduce a product, said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives.

“Apple faced a tough decision to make and ultimately decided to release and green light this smart phone to the market in hopes of gaining contained success out of the gates,” Ives wrote.

New iPhones are typically released with much fanfare at a Silicon Valley theatre named after Apple founder Steve Jobs, who revolutionised the market when he introduced the first iPhone in 2007. The springtime event never happened this year because of the pandemic.