iPhone SE has been truly one of the bestseller smartphones for Apple but it looks like the tech giant is not looking to refresh its SE lineup.
At least this is what KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the best Apple analyst, would like iPhone fans to believe.
In his new research note, Kuo says that Apple has decided not to release an update for iPhone SE and there could be two reasons for this decision, reports Forbes. The company is doing this to increase margins on iPhone SE in the face of reducing prices of its older components. The second reason is that it will help to reduce the negative impact on the sales of iPhone 7 that is pretty expensive in comparison to the SE model.
Both these reasons are said to make financial sense for Apple as it has always shown more interest in profit share rather than market share. As for the apprehensions about the sales of iPhone 7, they are quite well-founded and it would really be embarrassing if sales reports force Apple to admit that iPhone SE outshone iPhone 7.
However, it is not like the decision is all about benefits as there is also a flip side to it. It will cause a slump in the total sales figure. According to Kuo, the iPhone shipment is expected to go down by 10% in the second quarter of 2017 and sales would drop to 35 million units as compared to 40.4 million units that sold at the same time last year, claims 9to5Mac. Also, the 2016 figure was mostly due to the high demand for iPhone SE.
Coming back to stalling upgrade, Apple has taken the route in the past. It skipped MacBook Pro upgrades for many years and did the same with iPad generations too. iPhone has remained untouched but now it is also likely to witness the same action and going by the accuracy with which Kuo has made predictions about iPhones in the last 18 months, it seems users should be prepared to face the harsh reality.
The pocket-friendly and smart iPhone SE could really disappoint buyers this New Year.
