iPhone SE preorders top 3.4M in China, gold & rose gold most popular - report

Though Apple hasn't announced any official sales figures, preorders for the iPhone SE are said to have exceeded 3.4 million so far in China alone, according to data from local retailers.

The initial preorder figures were cited on Monday by CNBC, which revealed that gold has been the most popular color among buyers in China. Apple's new rose gold option was said to be in a close second place among early adopters.

Emerging markets like China, Brazil, Russia and India are believed to be a primary focus for Apple with the launch of the iPhone SE, which has the lowest entry price ever offered by the company. It's believed that the revamped 4-inch iPhone may appeal to consumers interested in buying their first smartphone, or making the switch from more affordable Android devices.

The sales numbers, if accurate, may also suggest that expectations for the iPhone SE are too low. Investors on Wall Street have predicted Apple will net anywhere from 10 million to 15 million additional iPhone sales this year.

Preorders for the iPhone SE began last Thursday in 13 territories, including key markets in North America, Europe and Asia. Apple plans to expand availability of the iPhone SE, as well as the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, to another 47 countries in the coming weeks.

The iPhone SE features Apple's A9 processor, 12-megapixel iSight camera, and NFC radio for Apple Pay — the same components found in the company's flagship iPhone 6s. It's priced at $399 for 16 gigabytes and $499 for 64 gigabytes, in color options of silver, space gray, gold and rose gold.

37 Comments

lkrupp 19 Years · 10521 comments

About 8 years ago

Well that’s interesting because c|net is trashing the SE bigtime.

josu 8 Years · 217 comments

It seems that there in the US is doing well too, the 64GB space grey version delivery times are slipping, Right now if you order the delivery is between a week and a week and a half later. Not September launch times, but a delay. The same with the iPad Pro, but slightly shorter

pmz 15 Years · 3429 comments

lkrupp said:

Well that’s interesting because c|net is trashing the SE bigtime.

No one was trashing the 5s still existing prior to the announcement....why would anyone trash a major update to that model, that doesn't negatively Apple or any human being on earth?

Oh that's right. Click Bait Ad Impression Bullshit Nonsense.

radarthekat 12 Years · 3904 comments

3.4 million iPhone SE pre-orders in China just from the three largest third-party resellers. No official word from Apple yet. I gotta believe there's a substantial number being ordered directly through the Apple website.

JD - 882,295

Suning - 1,709,427

Gome - 889,668

So that's just preliminary numbers out of China, a large market, but not the whole world. Looks like Apple has another hit on their hands.

redgeminipa 13 Years · 555 comments

lkrupp said:

Well that’s interesting because c|net is trashing the SE bigtime.

C|Net, and its large number of fellow troll readers/commenters, are just about the Faux News of consumer electronics anymore. That's why I stopped visiting that site. There is no such thing as a meaningful discussion on C|Net.