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Comment by fxtentacle

2 hours ago

"iPhone 16e Sales Lag Behind SE Models"

Ooops ?

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/03/iphone-16e-sales-lag-be...

Looks like the market did like the SE size.

>Looks like the market did like the SE size.

That's not a compelling argument when the same chart also shows the iPhone SE 2022 lagging behind iPhone SE 2020, even though they have identical form factors.

> Unsurprisingly, the primary reason identified for the iPhone 16e 's weaker debut is its higher launch price.

Adjusting for inflation, the SE (€479 in 2020) was €588 and the SE2 (€519 in 2022) was €567. The 16e is 699, a 25% increase.

  • Small phones (to an extent) are less expensive than larger phones to manufacture.

    The thought that "Small phones are only more popular because they're less expensive" seems to willfully ignore that the phones are less expensive because their inputs are less expensive, because they're smaller.

    • I wonder about the idea that they're less expensive. True in terms of materials, but possibly not true if the smaller production run means you can't offset the capital costs of manufacturing the parts.

  • And in Germany, the iPhone 16e 128GB in white currently sells for €537 at "Netto Marken-Discount", a supermarket chain famous for its low price. "Marken-Discount" = "brand name rebates"

    • That is utterly worthless without knowing what the SE and SE2 were sold for in the same context. The 16e's MSRP in germany is 699.