According to the latest news in the supply chain, Apple's third-generation SE series mobile phones are in the final stage of production and are expected to be released as early as the spring conference in March this year.
The design of the new iPhone SE remains largely unchanged, still a combination of a 4.7-inch LCD display and Touch ID, with the processor upgraded to the A15.
The first and second generations of SE are cost-effective models based on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 8 upgrades, respectively, and the SE3 that is now born will continue the general impression left by the SE series to users: small size, cheap, and basically similar performance to the iPhone 11, but only need to spend two-thirds of the money.
Source: Apple's official website
Some market research agencies pointed out that the iPhone SE3 is priced below $400 (about 2540 yuan), which is cheaper than the second generation of SE launched in 2020. At that time, the initial price of SE2 was 399 US dollars, and the Bank of China version was sold from 3299 yuan.
Although the se series of new products is not released frequently (SE1 2016, SE2 2020), it has also contributed considerable sales to Apple.
In the first quarter after launch in 2020, the SE2 shipped about 12 million to 14 million units, accounting for nearly 20% of total iPhone sales, of which more than 25% of SE users were from Android, and another 30% of users upgraded from iPhone 6s or older devices.
According to market research agency Omdia, sales of SE2 reached 24.2 million units in 2020, second only to the iPhone 11, becoming the second best-selling mobile phone that year.
Source: Omdia
However, the emergence of SE has also been criticized to squeeze the sales of high-end models listed in the same period, while SE has also sacrificed the average price of the iPhone, resulting in a decline in Apple's overall sales. According to agency estimates, the gross profit margin of the SE series is 35%, which is 10 percentage points less than the gross profit margin of the iPhone 6 (45%).
Although Samsung is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer based on shipments, Apple is leading the way in terms of revenue and profit share, and there is a big gap with the catch-up behind it.
But in 2020, when SE2 was launched, Apple's revenue and profit share declined significantly, until Q4 2020, with the hot sale of the iPhone 12, Apple's revenue rose to a high level again.
Source: Counterpoint
01
Why does Apple need the SE series?
I have to say that in today's "smoke-filled" smart phone market, the iPhone SE series is a bit "chicken ribs" in terms of design and performance, and Android phones at the same price have long had a full screen, a high refresh rate screen, a high-pixel camera and a longer battery life.
If you really want to say where the advantages of se 3 are, only the iOS system and the A15 processor have improved in terms of performance.
Where is the value of SE's existence?
For Apple, with mobile phone sales hitting a ceiling, high-end pricing is no longer the best choice.
Since 2019, Apple has intended to reduce prices, the price of the iPhone 11 series has decreased compared with the XR of the same gear in the previous year, considering that the Android camp has increased prices in the same period, Apple has suddenly "fragrant".
To the 12 and 13 series is the simultaneous launch of the Mini model, but subject to chip supply, had to cut the relatively unprofitable Mini series, but Apple still needs a mid-range product line, at least in terms of performance can benchmark the Android camp at the same price.
However, in fact, from the perspective of the market share changes after the listing of the previous two generations of SE, it has not caused a significant impact on the Android camp, but more to encourage those "nail households" who still use the old iPhone to replace the new machine.
From this point of view, Apple has other considerations since its price reduction, and Apple needs entry-level devices to drive the growth of subscriptions and software services.
After the smartphone market became saturated in 2015, Apple's revenue structure changed, and the focus began to shift to software and services.
Although the sales of hardware products such as iPhone, iPad and Mac are still the bulk of its revenue from the financial report, the proportion of software and service revenue including iTunes has risen from 8.5% in 2015 to 19.6% in 2020, while open wearable devices such as AirPods and Apple Watch have also achieved good growth.
Superimposed apple in recent years in the news, games, video, music services in the action, the intention of building a service ecology is obvious, and these are based on stable and large-scale active iPhone users, so Apple needs to let the old users update access to the new ecosystem, of course, if it can encourage Android users to "defect" it is better.
02
Domestic brush positioning high-end
Domestic mobile phone manufacturers have recently shouted out to benchmark Apple and enter the high-end market (in fact, it has been shouting for a long time).
Judging from the current share of the domestic mobile phone market, the top five mobile phone manufacturers in the domestic mobile phone market in the third quarter of this year are vivo, OPPO, Glory, Xiaomi and Apple, and the five manufacturers have divided 85% of the market share.
Only from the performance of the third quarter, the most eye-catching is the honor, driven by the new model honor 50 series and magic3 series, the market share increased significantly from 8% in the second quarter to 15%, surpassing Xiaomi to the third place. Xiaomi was affected by the supply chain, and the pace of shipments in the third quarter slowed down to 10.9 million units, and the market share fell back to 14%.
This also confirms from the side that the competition between major manufacturers has gradually entered the "white-hot", the pace of product release and iteration has accelerated, and the machine sea tactics of more than a year of new products have become an important means for mobile phone manufacturers to quickly seize the market, but if it is only the "inner volume" of the Android camp, it cannot shake the status of Apple.
From the perspective of product price band distribution, the core market of Xiaomi and OV is still below $400, of which less than $200 still occupies half of the country. Xiaomi's average selling price is about 40% and 75% cheaper than Samsung and Apple, respectively, and the situation is similar for OV.
Counterpoint data shows that Apple's sales in the Chinese market in October increased by 46% month-on-month, winning the top domestic smartphone sales in October, which is also the first time since December 2015, mainly benefiting from Apple's release of the 13 series in September, which further strengthened its position in the high-end market.
For the Android camp, whether it is overtaking by folding screen mobile phone corners, or continuing to pile up materials, it is not easy to gain a foothold in the high-end market.
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