iPhone’s Quiet Launch: Do You Know About the Cheaper Model Yet?
Since Steve Jobs’ first few years in the company, Apple has been known for its majestic and theatrical launches. That is why every year, the tech industry is on the lookout for its massive launches. However, this 2017, Apple did an unusual, quiet launch.
According to BGR, it has been spotted that Taiwan Mobile, the only Apple retail platform for the new phone, has been pushing its marketing for the gold version of the 32GB iPhone 6.
When the iPhone 6 launched, it was only introduced in 16/64/128GB versions. Then, they moved up the base storage for iPhones to 32GB.
The other interesting concept of this quiet launch is the exclusivity to Taiwan Mobile. Though iPhone 6 and iPhone SE have both been launched in China, nationwide, the 32GB iPhone 6 is only available in Taiwan Mobile’s online platform. It is even being sold as the “cheapest iPhone ever.”
“Adding a 32GB iPhone 6 option for the low-end is a confusing move for Apple. The iPhone SE is meant to fill the niche for a cheap(er) iPhone, and making the storage on the 6 bigger than the SE might cannibalize sales for Apple.”
iPhone SE seemed to mimic the design style of older iPhones, but if they are going to follow the update cycle of the smartphones, the iPhone SE may get some spec bump in the next few months.
The iPhone SE has already been a huge success, being the third-best-selling smartphone in the U.S. in September last year, according to 9to5Mac. That is why it is even more unusual for Apple to offer another cheaper version of the iPhone 6.
However, it is possible that the Chinese or the Taiwanese market simply is more attracted to the measurement of the iPhone 6 and the 4.7 inch model of the iPhone SE is not enough.
Why Is It On Sale? Is Apple Losing Money?
The move for launching a cheaper version of the iPhone 6 is still unknown. Because of the downturn of the Samsung launch late last year, the iPhone 7 has been seen in a better light.
Apple has been criticized of not innovating their products for the past years. Though the sales have been quite stale, the Apple company in the stock market is on the rise.
According to Yahoo, Apple is this year’s best-performing stock in the Dow. Apple shares have had a 52-week high and gained 2.3 percent to close the market last week. The stocks ended up at $139.78.
There are already rumors for the iPhone 8, and this might be the cause of the spike in the market. The curved display and wireless charging capabilities have been the top highlight of the rumors.
As mentioned above, Apple has been under scrutiny during the past years for their failure to innovate their products far enough. However, if Apple has already found a way to introduce their version of the curved smartphone, which has been pre-introduced by companies like Lenovo, they might have a fighting chance to survive.
At the same time, there are rumors of the cheaper 9.7-inch iPad launch. Apple seems to be tapping on the mid-range market to expand their sales options. The cheaper iPad is set at $299.
As Apple tries to compete with manufacturers who continue to introduce cheaper Android-based smartphones, they also try to struggle to stay on top.
Even though they have a good performance during the start of the year, Apple has still failed to stay on top of Google and Microsoft. Both of these two other companies produce their own smartphones and this year will just be another battle of the fittest.
[Featured Image by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images]
