iPhone SE 2 Release Date, Features: When Is It Launching?

The successor to the iPhone SE may be coming sooner than fans expected.

Anonymous sources speaking to the Nikkei Asian Report revealed that Apple is planning on releasing a lower-priced iPhone model in 2020 in an attempt to win customers and take back the market share it lost in China to Chinese smartphone giant Huawei as well as other brands.

This cheaper iPhone will be the first low-cost model the Cupertino giant will launch after the highly successful iPhone SE, which was launched in 2016. Nikkei’s sources said the device doesn’t have a name and price yet, but it is seen as the successor to the much-loved iPhone SE.

Why now?

For years, the prices of Apple’s iPhone models have increased and reached prices well beyond $999. While the Cupertino tech giant did release a cheaper smartphone in the form of the iPhone XR, its $749 price tag is still significantly higher compared to the $399 price tag the iPhone SE had when it was launched years ago.

Previous reports revealed that according to sales data, people are longing for cheaper smartphones. No matter how advanced a smartphone’s features are, consumers aren’t likely to buy it if it is sold at a high price.

Apple itself suffered from slow sales due to high prices. The Cupertino tech company’s CEO Tim Cook himself acknowledged that while iPhone prices do not matter that much in the U.S., it matters highly in emerging markets outside America. “I Do Think Price is a Factor,” Cook said in January, MacRumors reported.

The Cupertino tech giant also suffered in the Chinese market, due in part to the trade war between the U.S. and China, which caused Chinese consumers to purchase Huawei smartphones as a sign of their patriotism. Apple doesn’t want to lose its share in China, which is considered as the company’s third largest market.

Release date

Analysts believe that a new iPhone SE --a cheaper iPhone model-- will help improve Apple’s sale figures in China and in emerging markets.

“The cheaper iPhone SE could serve as a sales momentum kicker the first half next year, if the new premium iPhones do not perform well in the coming months,” Jeff Pu, GF Securities veteran tech analyst, told Nikkei.

That said, it’s unknown as to when Apple will release the new device. It’s possible that the new iPhone SE will be launched alongside the next iPhone lineup in September of 2020, or at another time.