When you think of an iPhone, you definitely don’t have one with a Home button in mind. And yet, Apple continues to offer the iPhone SE 3 with this same button and this same design. familiar. This made many wonder why Apple sells an iPhone so in 2024. But it is still there, under the motto “XL Power. SE Price.”
After all, other iPhone models already have Face ID and a bezel-less display, this is the last iPhone with a button. An iPhone like the SE and its design based on the 2014 iPhone 6 is clearly outdated. There are reasons for this, beyond price.
The latest iPhone with a button, the iPhone for “late adopters”
Those of us who read consumer technology sites like Applesfera on a daily basis are very attached to the latest news. And we tend to want the latest technology products or latest generation. That’s what we call Early adopters, a concept born from the theory of diffusion of innovations. And maybe here is the key. In the absence of an iPhone SE 4 which is already gaining momentum to be released in 2024, we will have to settle for this intermediate but very economical option.
Anything perceived as new is distributed unevenly among the population. There are individuals more inclined than others to adopt it quickly, the so-called early adopters, and there are others who are called latecomers. The latter are the last to adopt a change and seek to delay it as long as possible.
Initially, when the iPhone debuted in 2007 and for a few generations, the market it served was a monolith. There was only one iPhone model, take it or leave it. But over time, Apple began to keep older models on sale. And finally, it launched several models starting in 2014, specifically the iPhone 6.
This strategy of maintaining old models and launching several at the same time corresponds to the evolution over time along the adoption curve. While the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS were aimed at early adopters, it was with the iPhone 4 that iPhone adoption exploded. And now we’re seeing widespread adoption, with a few holdouts at the end of the curve.
Users seeking familiarity, switches and businesses
In this group of latecomers, we find quite heterogeneous users, but who They share their decision to get an iPhone SE. During the presentation of the latest iPhone SE, Tim Cook said that:
[El iPhone SE] This will be great for existing iPhone users who want a compact and capable iPhone, as well as new users who want to experience an iPhone for the first time.
Here, Cook clarifies that there are iPhone users who want a terminal with a smaller screen. Remember that the iPhone 13 mini continues to be sold with a 5.4-inch screen (the iPhone SE measures 4.7 inches) although its size is similar. These users may not feel prepared for an iPhone with Face ID and do without the Home button, which provides so much security to the user: wherever you are, pressing it will take you to the main screen.
Businesses are looking for terminals that are reliable, secure, easy to manage and fit their budget. The iPhone SE 3 ticks all the boxes
The days of attracting a large number of users who have never had a smartphone are long gone. But Apple anyway can scrape from Android a small part of users who have never had an iPhone. Remember that Android is a platform whose average selling price is lower than that of the iPhone and that the iPhone SE 3 helps make the jump more affordable.
Although Tim Cook didn’t mention it, the iPhone SE also plays an important role in the Cupertino company. Small and medium enterprises They may be interested in a reliable smartphone with updates, security, business management tools, and support. But not to the point of spending 1,000 dollars for an iPhone.
The price of the iPhone SE 3 It has increased by around 40 dollars compared to its previous generation. Despite this, it continues to attract latecomers, switches and businesses. Especially when in the future discounts and promotions will begin to arrive from resellers.
An older version of this article was originally published on 03/13/2023.
Pictures | Daniel Romero
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