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Apple to Release a Lower Cost iPhone w/LCD in 2020
September 09, 2019 Apple plans to launch a lower-cost iPhone next spring (2020) to win customers in emerging markets and retake ground in China lost to Huawei Technologies and other rivals. The device would look similar to the iPhone 8 and include a 4.7-inch screen. The iPhone 8 currently sells for $599, while Apple sold the iPhone SE for $399 when that device launched in 2016. The new low-cost phone is expected to have Touch ID built into the home button, not the screen. Nikkei reported plans for a cheaper iPhone earlier this week. Apple stopped selling new iPhones with Touch ID in 2018 with the launch of the iPhone XR and iPhone XS, saying that Face ID was more secure than fingerprint scanning. With the planned low-cost iPhone and future devices with in-display fingerprint readers, Touch ID will apparently be making a comeback. Apple is also planning an updated Face ID sensor for its new iPhones that will be announced next week.If Apple moves forward with the in-screen fingerprint scanner, the company would offer users both biometric options, letting them unlock and authenticate app transactions with either their face or fingerprint. In any case, the Face ID sensor system will need to be retained because its technology forms the basis for more advanced portrait photography and augmented reality features like Animoji. |
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This year’s new high-end iPhones, to be introduced Sept. 10, will also include upgrades to low-light photography, improved water resistance, shatter-resistant glass technology, faster processors and a new way to charge AirPods, Bloomberg News reported. For 2020, Apple is planning a larger iPhone revamp with 5G wireless technology, a faster processor, and rear-facing 3-D cameras for enhanced augmented reality capabilities.
The new model would be Apple's first low-cost smartphone since the launch of the iPhone SE in 2016, which started at $399. Though the name and price of the new model hasn't been decided, it is the latest generation of the iPhone SE. The decision to revive the lower cost model comes amid a rough patch for the iPhone. Apple reported its first-ever decline in iPhone shipments for last year, and lost the #2 smartphone shipment position to Huawei, while suffering two straight quarters of shipment and market share drops this year. To reenergize sales, Apple slashed prices for its flagship iPhones and launched trade-in programs, which accounted for nearly half of its revenue in the first half of the year. Despite these incentives. The new, cheaper iPhone could boost sales for Apple next spring, when the life-cycle of new flagship iPhones -- scheduled to be unveiled Sept. 10 -- would naturally begin to slow. The original iPhone SE sold about 30 million units in 2016 and another 10 million between 2017 and 2018, according to Yuanta Investment Consulting. Apple ramped up mass production of the latest flagship iPhones in the final two weeks of August, and the manufacturing process was smooth since there were few challenging new features this year. The initial production run of this year’s new iPhones is around 10% less than the 80-85 million units during the same period in 2018 -- a conservative approach that reflects the uncertain global economic outlook, two other people said. But Apple could increase orders anytime if demand turned out to be stronger, they added. The new model will be similar to the 4.7-inch iPhone 8 that was introduced in 2017, three sources said. The model will share most of the same components with the flagship iPhones this year, and it will feature the lower-cost LCD that will help Apple achieve the lower starting price-tag, although the final pricing for the model is not yet settled. “Apple is facing quite a tough year in terms of smartphone competition,” said Eddie Han, senior industry analyst at Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute. While most of its rivals already launched 5G-compatible smartphones to attract consumers amid an industrywide slowdown, Apple hasn't unveiled a 5G handset this year, the analyst said.
“A new iPhone SE could at least help Apple secure its user base,” Han added.
The new model would be Apple's first low-cost smartphone since the launch of the iPhone SE in 2016, which started at $399. Though the name and price of the new model hasn't been decided, it is the latest generation of the iPhone SE. The decision to revive the lower cost model comes amid a rough patch for the iPhone. Apple reported its first-ever decline in iPhone shipments for last year, and lost the #2 smartphone shipment position to Huawei, while suffering two straight quarters of shipment and market share drops this year. To reenergize sales, Apple slashed prices for its flagship iPhones and launched trade-in programs, which accounted for nearly half of its revenue in the first half of the year. Despite these incentives. The new, cheaper iPhone could boost sales for Apple next spring, when the life-cycle of new flagship iPhones -- scheduled to be unveiled Sept. 10 -- would naturally begin to slow. The original iPhone SE sold about 30 million units in 2016 and another 10 million between 2017 and 2018, according to Yuanta Investment Consulting. Apple ramped up mass production of the latest flagship iPhones in the final two weeks of August, and the manufacturing process was smooth since there were few challenging new features this year. The initial production run of this year’s new iPhones is around 10% less than the 80-85 million units during the same period in 2018 -- a conservative approach that reflects the uncertain global economic outlook, two other people said. But Apple could increase orders anytime if demand turned out to be stronger, they added. The new model will be similar to the 4.7-inch iPhone 8 that was introduced in 2017, three sources said. The model will share most of the same components with the flagship iPhones this year, and it will feature the lower-cost LCD that will help Apple achieve the lower starting price-tag, although the final pricing for the model is not yet settled. “Apple is facing quite a tough year in terms of smartphone competition,” said Eddie Han, senior industry analyst at Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute. While most of its rivals already launched 5G-compatible smartphones to attract consumers amid an industrywide slowdown, Apple hasn't unveiled a 5G handset this year, the analyst said.
“A new iPhone SE could at least help Apple secure its user base,” Han added.
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