'iPhone SE' rumors spark hopes that Apple will continue to sell iPhone 5s at $350 or less

Analysts on Wall Street expect the new 4-inch "iPhone SE" may be priced at $450, taking the place of the entry-level iPhone 5s. But if Apple were to keep the iPhone 5s around at a cheaper price, it could allow the company to tap into new markets.

Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray said this week he believes Apple could "experiment with excess stock inventory," pricing the iPhone 5s at between $250 and $350. Such a move could be geared toward gaining share in emerging markets like India, Brazil and Russia.

Analyst Rod Hall of J.P. Morgan weighed in with a similar sentiment, telling investors he hopes Apple will drop the entry-level pricing on its iPhone lineup down to $350 following the debut of the "iPhone SE."

Hopes for even lower pricing on the iPhone to grow market share are not new, particularly on Wall Street. But such a move wouldn't be entirely unprecedented either.

Apple previously took a similar approach with the iPhone 4s, continuing to sell it in some countries after it was discontinued across most of the globe. It has not, however, shown interest in offering an ultra-low-cost iPhone in established markets like the U.S.

In a move perhaps setting the stage for the "iPhone SE," Apple finally discontinued the iPhone 4s, as well as the iPhone 5c, in India last month. Prior to that, the iPhone 4s was priced at just Rs. 12,000, or about $175, helping to make it the most popular device in Apple's local lineup.

The iPhone 5s is currently Apple's cheapest handset in India, with its price cut in half in December to Rs. 24,999, or $372.

Apple is set to hold an event on March 21 where it is expected to unveil a new 4-inch iPhone featuring updated internal components, including support for Apple Pay. This month's event will serve as something of a stopgap leading into September, when Apple is rumored to unveil a full-fledged next-generation "iPhone 7."

54 Comments

dachar 11 Years · 330 comments

About 8 years ago

sog35 said:

These clowns will never give up the fantasy of Apple selling cheap crap.

Are you saying the iPhone 5S is rubbish? The analysts may have got the pricing wrong but in the past Apple have sold older models at reduced prices such as the 4S, so there is nothing wrong with continuing the price reduction idea with the 5S if a new model replaces it.

As noted before there are many of us who do not want a phone bigger than the 5 Series and who have not renewed our iPhones because we do not want the larger 6 Series. The introduction of the new 4 inch iPhone is important because Apple will need to make decisions on how far to upgrade the hardware and how the pricing fits in with the established 6 and 6S models.

blastdoor 15 Years · 3594 comments

About 8 years ago

With the A5 in the 4s, the hardware finally caught up to the software -- the basic user experience with the 4s is much better than with the 4.

With the A7, the hardware leapt ahead of the software by a pretty big margin -- aside from screen size, the basic user experience with an iPhone 6 isn't noticeably different from the 5s.

This means the 5s can stick around for much longer as a perfectly credible product.

mike1 10 Years · 3437 comments

About 8 years ago

dachar said:

sog35 said:

These clowns will never give up the fantasy of Apple selling cheap crap.

Are you saying the iPhone 5S is rubbish? The analysts may have got the pricing wrong but in the past Apple have sold older models at reduced prices such as the 4S, so there is nothing wrong with continuing the price reduction idea with the 5S if a new model replaces it.

As noted before there are many of us who do not want a phone bigger than the 5 Series and who have not renewed our iPhones because we do not want the larger 6 Series. The introduction of the new 4 inch iPhone is important because Apple will need to make decisions on how far to upgrade the hardware and how the pricing fits in with the established 6 and 6S models.

It's not the fact that the phone might drop in price as Apple has always done, but by the incessant view by some that they need to offer a "cheap" phone. If Apple follows their pattern, the original iPhone 6 would become the entry level phone in the Fall. Those who clamor for the "cheap" phone always cite developing markets. Fact is, those markets overwhelmingly want and purchase larger screens as their phone is often their only device.

In addition, I wuld seriously doubt that Apple could ever remove enough cost from the 5S to PROFITABLY sell it for $350. There is a floor to how inexpensively they can make that phone.

iSRS 8 Years · 52 comments

About 8 years ago

blastdoor said:

With the A5 in the 4s, the hardware finally caught up to the software -- the basic user experience with the 4s is much better than with the 4.

With the A7, the hardware leapt ahead of the software by a pretty big margin -- aside from screen size, the basic user experience with an iPhone 6 isn't noticeably different from the 5s.

This means the 5s can stick around for much longer as a perfectly credible product.

I agree. the 5s was the first 64 bit iPhone, IIRC. This gives it a much longer life. Keep in mind, this is a 2013 phone, and they just recently stopped selling the 2011 iPhone 4s in some countries. If the 5s takes the price place of the 4s, that is a huge improvement for those folks.