iPhone SE (2016) New SE2 Rumor?

[s54]

There are no new sealed iPhone 7 or X in the clearance section. The iPhone 7 and X exist in the clearance section as refurbished items only. And even then, they have only a 15% discount.



Sure, the SE should be priced lower as an old iPhone. But not 30% lower.

Historically, new items in the Apple Clearance section don't see any discounts at all.

For example, these MacBooks in the Clearance section are 2017 models. They were sold at full price. Unlike the SE, Apple didn't see the need to give them a $100 or $150 discount.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190102060352/https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/clearance
[doublepost=1550778317][/doublepost]

That's true for many people on this forum and we've heard that many times.

But from a macro perspective, everything Apple has done signaled their belief that SE buyers are price sensitive. Apple wouldn't discount the SE by 30% in the clearance bin if they thought most SE buyers would pay for the form factor.

The situation is similar to the iPhone 6s. Certainly, there are consumers who want the 3.5mm jack. But the vast majority of customers bought the 6s because of cost. Apple recognizes this or the price of iPhone 6s would be the same as iPhone 7.

There was no such signal. Pricing alone doesn't dictate what somebody likes or wants, especially when flagship phones cost thousands and you're debating over the $50-100 price difference between what one can realistically expect to pay for an SE vs 7 today.

If SE buyers were as price sensitive as you claim, they wouldn't have bought this many SE's. Instead, they would have opted for the iPhone 6 or 6S, which were basically the same price as the SE in recent months and came with larger screens. This alone shows that people bought the SE for the size and not the price. If I liked a bigger screen, I would have never favored the SE over the 6 or 6S, given the same cost.

There's a reason why this board is swarmed with SE threads! You never see this with the iPhone 6S, which had essentially the same specs with a bigger screen. Today, the 6S can be bought for the same price as the SE. And yet, it sees nowhere near the demand of the SE.

 

[arkitect]

There was no such signal. Pricing alone doesn't dictate what somebody likes or wants, especially when flagship phones cost thousands and you're debating over the $50-100 price difference between what one can realistically expect to pay for an SE vs 7 today.

If SE buyers were as price sensitive as you claim, they wouldn't have bought this many SE's. Instead, they would have opted for the iPhone 6 or 6S, which were basically the same price as the SE in recent months and came with larger screens. This alone shows that people bought the SE for the size and not the price. If I liked a bigger screen, I would have never favored the SE over the 6 or 6S for the same money.

There's a reason why this board is swarmed with SE threads! You never see this with the iPhone 6s, which had essentially the same specs with a bigger screen. Today, the 6S can be bought for the same price as the SE. And yet, it sees nowhere near the demand of the SE.

You've nailed it with this post.

Some of us are incredibly happy with the form factor of the SE. Price alone is not the deciding factor so many people think it is.

 

[fuchsdh]

Wait, that website actually takes those renders as 'proof'? Am I missing something or are they just that hungry for clicks?

A) They know people are, witness this thread being started, and
B) If you take a good look at the article you realize it's mostly just SEO trapping. Actual content isn't valued by search engines, so people do this instead.

I'd personally love an SE-sized device with a full-size screen (even when I got an iPhone 6 I wished they had split the difference between it and a 5S, and the larger screen-to-body ratio means you don't have anywhere near as much to sacrifice with a small phone) but considering how expensive the XR is I can't see it that easy to take the X-style form factor and cram it into an SE case (especially the number of sensors across the front... you'd probably not have room for any notch at all if they can't shrink it versus the current width.)

 

[Mac 128]

There's a lot of specious reasoning going on here.

It's pretty clear the SE is a completely different situation than any that's come before. It never was released as a newly redesigned phone, it was always an amalgam of older hardware, and a direct comparison of specs on Apple's website would show how far it lagged behind Apple's newer offerings. The SE got a storage bump the following year, but not a performance/feature bump -- had it been selling so poorly, surely Apple would have discontinued it rather than doubling-down?

The fact that Apple pulled the SE off the shelves in an 11th hour decision evidenced by the August and September '18 manufacturing dates, and shoved them all in a warehouse through the holidays while they figured out what to do with it, absolutely plays into the the clearance fire sale currently being had. That's over 5 months of warehouse space occupied by a large number of devices, never intended to be stored for that length of time -- since Apple doesn't inventory merchandise, and supplies product in a well-oiled, state-of-the-art, just-in-time delivery system. So Apple has an older phone, with limited features and design which is in no way going to capture top dollar. Apple could have discounted it $50 and left it in the Apple stores as they have with the iPod Touch and they would have likely sold just fine. But that isn't what happened, and now Apple's trying to clear out the inventory so they can move forward.

But none of this is likely about how badly the SE sold, or how little Apple was able to charge for a phone, parts of which dated back to the iPhone 5. Apple has a plan, and a new premium "compact" phone either fits into it or it doesn't. There's no way based on everything we know about the SE, to begin to claim that market forces have driven Apple's decision, since it's Apple that has driven the market with their decision to go with higher profit margins on larger phones, without giving customers the choice to spend more on lower margin smaller phones. It's a chicken-and-egg situation -- a situation not really similar to any other phone Apple has sold before.
[doublepost=1550781898][/doublepost]

A) They know people are, witness this thread being started, and
B) If you take a good look at the article you realize it's mostly just SEO trapping. Actual content isn't valued by search engines, so people do this instead.

I'd personally love an SE-sized device with a full-size screen (even when I got an iPhone 6 I wished they had split the difference between it and a 5S, and the larger screen-to-body ratio means you don't have anywhere near as much to sacrifice with a small phone) but considering how expensive the XR is I can't see it that easy to take the X-style form factor and cram it into an SE case (especially the number of sensors across the front... you'd probably not have room for any notch at all if they can't shrink it versus the current width.)

The hilarious assumption going on here is that people want "bigger" phones. People may want bigger screens, but it's not likely they actually want bigger phones. What you suggest hits the sweet spot in offering a much larger screen experience, in the same package that can be managed with one hand. Who wouldn't want that?

If Apple is planning on dropping the screen size of the iPhone 7 & 8, and only going with the plus and max-sized models, that's one thing. But as long as the 7 & 8 are around and selling well, putting that same-sized screen in a smaller package is a win for everyone.

 

[JPack]

There was no such signal. Pricing alone doesn't dictate what somebody likes or wants, especially when flagship phones cost thousands and you're debating over the $50-100 price difference between what one can realistically expect to pay for an SE vs 7 today.

If SE buyers were as price sensitive as you claim, they wouldn't have bought this many SE's. Instead, they would have opted for the iPhone 6 or 6S, which were basically the same price as the SE in recent months and came with larger screens. This alone shows that people bought the SE for the size and not the price. If I liked a bigger screen, I would have never favored the SE over the 6 or 6S, given the same cost.

There's a reason why this board is swarmed with SE threads! You never see this with the iPhone 6S, which had essentially the same specs with a bigger screen. Today, the 6S can be bought for the same price as the SE. And yet, it sees nowhere near the demand of the SE.

If pricing doesn't dictate what people want, then Apple has made a serious mistake in clearing out the SE with a 30% discount.

In short, your argument seem to be:

• Price doesn't matter for SE buyers - Apple is clearing out the SE by discounting $100-150. Apple is certainly leaving a lot of money on the table.
  
• $50-100 difference doesn't matter - yet Apple lowered the price of SE from $399 to $349. They could have frozen the price like iPod Touch ($199 since 2015).
  
• SE demand is booming - yet adoption rate data says iPhone 5s owners didn't bother buying SE.

There are a lot of hand-waving arguments without any data to back up claims of SE demand. At the end of the day, it's the adoption and sales data that matters.



A full 18 months after the launch of the SE, the number of 5s users remained nearly double that of the SE. Compare that to the iPhone 7, which completely overtakes the iPhone 6s after 12 months. Similarly, the iPhone 6s completely dominates the 6.

 

[s54]

If pricing doesn't dictate what people want, then Apple has made a serious mistake in clearing out the SE with a 30% discount.

In short, your argument seem to be:

• Price doesn't matter for SE buyers - Apple is clearing out the SE by discounting $100-150. Apple is certainly leaving a lot of money on the table.
  
• $50-100 difference doesn't matter - yet Apple lowered the price of SE from $399 to $349. They could have frozen the price like iPod Touch ($199 since 2015).
  
• SE demand is booming - yet adoption rate data says iPhone 5s owners didn't bother buying SE.

There are a lot of hand-waving arguments without any data to back up claims of SE demand. At the end of the day, it's the adoption and sales data that matters.

View attachment 822956

A full 18 months after the launch of the SE, the number of 5s users remained nearly double that of the SE. Compare that to the iPhone 7, which completely overtakes the iPhone 6s after 12 months. Similarly, the iPhone 6s completely dominates the 6.

Nope. Try again. Those were none of my arguments. You're blatantly altering them to support yours.

1. Price matters for every product. Not sure where you got the idea that I claimed otherwise. It was you who confidently argued that that the iPhone SE price is its sole or prime selling point. That's false.

2. Yes, it's only $50-100 difference between iPhone SE and iPhone 7. But the price difference between iPhone 6s and iPhone SE is/was $0. And we haven't seen the same demand for iPhone 6s as we have for the SE since both were discontinued. Therefore, your argument of price doesn't hold. According to your logic, most SE owners should be iPhone 6s owners. Bigger screen, same price.

3. Never once claimed that "SE demand is booming". I did, however, say that SE is in high demand and this demand is much higher currently than the iPhone 6s, which sells for basically the same price and sports a bigger screen.

If your logic applied, then the SE's wouldn't be selling out as fast as they did and instead the iPhone 6s would be. You would be seeing countless iPhone 6s threads, but there are hardly any. According to you, the iPhone 6s should be sold out everywhere. Why would anyone ever spend $350 on the SE when they can have the same phone with a larger screen for the same price?

Let me tell you why: because it's smaller!

SE is the last small capable smartphone on the market. Hence the uproar we're seeing about it being discontinued.

 

[Q-Dog]

I may have been the last person to buy an SE before Apple discontinued them ... it was delivered to me right about the time Tim and Co. started the keynote announcing the last round of new phones. As soon as that keynote was over I opened the package, put my sim in it and booted it up. Found out a few minutes later the SE was removed from the Apple store.

I paid full price and have zero regrets. Price was never a consideration in my decision to buy the SE. It is as big as I am willing to go. If the Apple watch could operate as a stand alone phone, I would be carrying that around in my pocket.

 

[turbineseaplane]

If the Apple watch could operate as a stand alone phone, I would be carrying that around in my pocket.

I've thought about that future also, except the camera would be a hangup.
I end up using my SE camera all the time

 

[EssModelsRule]

The 7 is sold today for 30% less than it sold for in 2016 when it launched (months after SE) thanks to two $100 price cuts each time newer models were added. Selling a SE today for $250 instead of $350 is also roughly 30% less. Apple’s not “leaving money on the table” in either case; the phones are just older so demand is fading although component costs are coming down too so the price today has to reflect all that. People buying SE today are making pretty big compromises in specs compared to newer phones because they value the size of the SE above all else. Otherwise, as already noted by others a 6s or 7 is easily within reach for most budgets.

 

[44267547]

If pricing doesn't dictate what people want, then Apple has made a serious mistake in clearing out the SE with a 30% discount.

In short, your argument seem to be:

• Price doesn't matter for SE buyers - Apple is clearing out the SE by discounting $100-150. Apple is certainly leaving a lot of money on the table

Couple of things:

Apple clearing out inventory on their clearance section on the website, is likely nothing more then overstock from carriers being sent back to them, obviously that’s nothing more than a guesstimate, but they’re not even advertising the SE being on clearance, aside from tech sites that are following Apple‘s clearance page reporting any of these ‘Mini’ launches.

Also, you said ‘price doesn’t matter for the SE to the buyer’, that alone is not accurate. If you traditionally watch back in the March 2016 keynote when Greg Joswiak was discussing SE after the announcement, he specifically mentioned that the SE was returned because they wanted an affordable, entry-level device for those who wanted a 4 inch form factor.

 

[JPack]

2. Yes, it's only $50-100 difference between iPhone SE and iPhone 7. But the price difference between iPhone 6s and iPhone SE is/was $0. And we haven't seen the same demand for iPhone 6s as we have for the SE since both were discontinued. Therefore, your argument of price doesn't hold. According to your logic, most SE owners should be iPhone 6s owners. Bigger screen, same price.

[doublepost=1550790911][/doublepost]

Couple of things:

Apple clearing out inventory on their clearance section on the website, is likely nothing more then overstock from carriers being sent back to them, obviously that’s nothing more than a guesstimate, but they’re not even advertising the SE being on clearance, aside from tech sites that are following Apple‘s clearance page reporting any of these ‘Mini’ launches.

Yes, I agree these are carrier returns. Apple is clearing out SE with TracFone SIM cards which were never sold directly from Apple.

Also, you said ‘price doesn’t matter for the SE to the buyer’, that alone is not accurate. If you traditionally watch back in the March 2016 keynote when Greg Joswiak was discussing SE after the announcement, he specifically mentioned that the SE was returned because they wanted an affordable, entry-level device for those who wanted a 4 inch form factor.

My argument is that price matters a lot for SE buyers. If it didn't matter, Apple's SE clearance price would be kept at $349 or even $299 as it's the only remaining small iPhone.

 

[s54]

View attachment 822978

lol that's an old screenshot from several years ago. How convenient for you to refer to it.

There was about a $100 difference between SE and 7 from Apple, before the SE was yanked from the store and discounted. That difference is even less from other online vendors and merchants on eBay.

 

[JPack]

lol that's an old screenshot from several years ago. How convenient for you to refer to it.

There was about a $100 difference between SE and 7 from Apple, before the SE was yanked from the store and discounted. That difference is even less from other online vendors and merchants on eBay.

It's your argument that "But the price difference between iPhone 6s and iPhone SE is/was $0."

It simply isn't true.

 

[s54]

It's your argument that "But the price difference between iPhone 6s and iPhone SE is/was $0."

It simply isn't true.

Sorry, you're wrong.

Several months ago, before it got yanked from the Apple store, the 32 GB iPhone SE was selling for $350 with full price. Roughly at the same time, the 32 GB iPhone 6s was selling at T-Mobile and other merchants for $350 (https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/apple-iphone-6s?color=spacegray&memory=32gb).

There was in fact a period of time when the two devices were selling for the same identical price. Today, they are also selling for the same price on eBay and other places online.
[doublepost=1550792348][/doublepost]

View attachment 822978
[doublepost=1550790911][/doublepost]
My argument is that price matters a lot for SE buyers. If it didn't matter, Apple's SE clearance price would be kept at $349 or even $299 as it's the only remaining small iPhone.

You came to that conclusion based on nothing. And the discounted price for the 128 GB SE is currently $299.

Once again, if price mattered "a lot" more than screen size, most of those people would buy the 6s for the price of the SE. Most brand new unlocked 6s with 128 GB storage are going for $200-350 on eBay. That's the same price (actually less) than what brand new 128 GB SE's are selling for.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...locked&_dcat=9355&rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=1000

 

[JPack]

Sorry, you're wrong.

Several months ago, before it got yanked from the Apple store, the 32 GB iPhone SE was selling for $350 with full price. Roughly at the same time, the 32 GB iPhone 6s was selling at T-Mobile and other merchants for $350 (https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone/apple-iphone-6s?color=spacegray&memory=32gb).

There was in fact a period of time when the two devices were selling for the same identical price. Today, they are also selling for the same price on eBay and other places online.

You're seriously trying to use a special sale with one carrier for one period in time to suggest iPhone SE is priced the same as iPhone 6s? Do you realize the market for iPhone is global and the SE was on the market for over 2 years?
[doublepost=1550792603][/doublepost]

You came to that conclusion based on nothing. And the discounted price for the 128 GB SE is currently $299.

Once again, if price mattered "a lot" more than screen size, most of those people would buy the 6s for the price of the SE. Most brand new unlocked 6s with 128 GB storage are going for $200-350 on eBay. That's the same price (actually less) than what brand new 128 GB SE's are selling for.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=iphone+6s+128+unlocked&_sacat=0&Storage%20Capacity=128%20GB&Network=Unlocked&_dcat=9355&rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=1000

1. iPhone SE is selling for $249 in the clearance store.

2. Most consumers don't buy from eBay. It's not representative of the global market. You might as well use Craigslist as an example.

 

[s54]

You're seriously trying to use a special sale with one carrier for one period in time to suggest iPhone SE is priced the same as iPhone 6s? Do you realize the market for iPhone is global and the SE was on the market for over 2 years?

That's a very ironic post on your behalf, since you're constantly referencing the "special sale" of the iPhone SE going on right now.

Before this "special sale" of the SE, the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE were the same price. For months. And no, not just from one merchant. It was the price across the board: eBay, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc.

Here you go. This should put an end to your argument: https://www.verizonwireless.com/sma...ViI-zCh2IsAECEAAYASAAEgJwn_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yes, that's an unlocked full-priced iPhone 6s for $350 that you can still buy from Verizon. It's been priced this way for months, before the 32 GB iPhone SE went on clearance.

 

[Mac 128]

That's a very ironic post on your behalf, since you're constantly referencing the "special sale" of the iPhone SE going on right now.

Before this "special sale" of the SE, the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE were the same price. For months. And no, not just from one merchant. It was the price across the board: eBay, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc.

Here you go. This should put an end to your argument: https://www.verizonwireless.com/sma...ViI-zCh2IsAECEAAYASAAEgJwn_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yes, that's an unlocked full-priced iPhone 6s for $350 that you can still buy from Verizon. It's been priced this way for months, before the 32 GB iPhone SE went on clearance.

He can make his argument that the SE is being sold on clearance because there's no demand and Apple couldn't sell it for more. But it's completely specious. We have no idea why Apple is doing what they're doing, and there are many reasons to do it which have nothing to do with whether they could sell the SE for it's original MSRP. Nor does his argument accept that the SE is an aging phone which is not as a attractive to even the customers who prefer it, as it once was at the previous list price.

This debate is getting silly ...

 

[s54]

1. iPhone SE is selling for $249 in the clearance store.

2. Most consumers don't buy from eBay. It's not representative of the global market. You might as well use Craigslist as an example.

1. Like I said before, it's discounted to $299 for the 128 GB model. Before the clearance, it was $450.

2. Most consumers do in fact buy from eBay once the phone is discontinued and no longer sold at retailers. But, since you insist that they don't, then, according to your own logic, they have to pay $450 for the 128 GB iPhone 6s from a reputable merchant like Verizon or $450 for the 128 GB iPhone SE before it went on clearance.

Let me summarize it for you. Before the 128 GB iPhone SE went on clearance, it cost $450 from Apple. At that same time, Verizon and T-Mobile were already selling the 128 GB iPhone 6s for $450.

 

[JPack]

That's a very ironic post on your behalf, since you're constantly referencing the "special sale" of the iPhone SE going on right now.

Before this "special sale" of the SE, the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE were the same price. For months. And no, not just from one merchant. It was the price across the board: eBay, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc.

Here you go. This should put an end to your argument: https://www.verizonwireless.com/sma...ViI-zCh2IsAECEAAYASAAEgJwn_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yes, that's an unlocked full-priced iPhone 6s for $350 that you can still buy from Verizon. It's been priced this way for months, before the 32 GB iPhone SE went on clearance.

Once again, you're providing examples from U.S. carriers and pretending they represent global pricing. Less than 1/3 of global iPhone sales are from the U.S.

What's more, you pretend this $350 iPhone 6s from Verizon somehow represents the bulk of iPhone 6s sales. Carriers are clearing out the iPhone 6s at the end of a 3 year sales cycle.

During the period of 2016, 2017, and 2018, the iPhone 6s was significantly more expensive than iPhone SE.

If carrier promo pricing was representative, Apple wouldn't post retail prices on their website.

 

[s54]

Once again, you're providing examples from U.S. carriers and pretending they represent global pricing. Less than 1/3 of global iPhone sales are from the U.S.

What's more, you pretend this $350 iPhone 6s from Verizon somehow represents the bulk of iPhone 6s sales. Carriers are clearing out the iPhone 6s at the end of a 3 year sales cycle.

During the period of 2016, 2017, and 2018, the iPhone 6s was significantly more expensive than iPhone SE.

If carrier promo pricing was representative, Apple wouldn't post retail prices on their website.

Likewise, you're doing the same exact thing. How can you argue that carrier promo price is not representative, but Apple price is? - You get the same authentic phone whether you purchase through Apple or Verizon or T-Mobile.

You just argued that iPhone 6s was never selling for the same price as the SE. It was in fact selling for the same price as the SE for quite some time. Yet, people still chose the SE over the 6s during that time.

 

[JPack]

Likewise, you're doing the same exact thing. How can you argue that carrier promo price is not representative, but Apple price is? - You get the same authentic phone whether you purchase through Apple or Verizon or T-Mobile.

You just argued that iPhone 6s was never selling for the same price as the SE. It was in fact selling for the same price as the SE for quite some time. Yet, people still chose the SE over the 6s during that time.

Most customers in the world don't buy from U.S. carriers.

Look at 2/3 of the world including Europe and China. There are no such carrier promos.

If carrier pricing represented global pricing, Apple wouldn't need to post any prices on its website.

 

[kazmac]

You've nailed it with this post.

Some of us are incredibly happy with the form factor of the SE. Price alone is not the deciding factor so many people think it is.

Exactly. Finally nabbed an SE to replace my 8+ (which was suffering from no headphone jack, too little storage, way too big, specs I do not use. It was just too much phone for my wants and needs.)

Lower price helps, but when I think about how much I used the iPhone 5 and how little I've used the bells & whistles on subsequent upgrades, I know I made the right choice tonight (Finally, after almost 2 years of regret over not picking up an SE in March 2017).

 

[JPack]

1. Like I said before, it's discounted to $299 for the 128 GB model. Before the clearance, it was $450.

2. Most consumers do in fact buy from eBay once the phone is discontinued and no longer sold at retailers. But, since you insist that they don't, then, according to your own logic, they have to pay $450 for the 128 GB iPhone 6s from a reputable merchant like Verizon or $450 for the 128 GB iPhone SE before it went on clearance.

Let me summarize it for you. Before the 128 GB iPhone SE went on clearance, it cost $450 from Apple. At that same time, Verizon and T-Mobile were already selling the 128 GB iPhone 6s for $450.

Your summary is ridiculous.

You focus on the tail end of the sales cycle for the iPhone 6s and conclude it's the same price as SE, when both have been marked for EOL.

2015
6s: $649

2016
SE: $399
6s: $549

2017
SE: $349
6s: $449

 

[s54]

Your summary is ridiculous.

You focus on the tail end of the sales cycle for the iPhone 6s and conclude it's the same price as SE, when both have been marked for EOL.

2015
6s: $649

2016
SE: $399
6s: $549

2017
SE: $349
6s: $449

Your analogy is even more ridiculous because it's contradictory. You tell me that I shouldn't focus on the tail end of the sales cycle, but you did exactly that by constantly bringing the recently discounted iPhone SE price into the mix.

Make up your mind.

Your argument doesn't hold for two reasons:

1. We are in 2019, pal. The SE was being sold brand new by Apple in 2018 for $350/$450. The 6s is still being sold by Verizon for $350/$450, which is the same price it sold for before Apple discontinued the SE. https://www.verizonwireless.com/sma...7028&cjevent=e789f870363611e9815901300a24060b

2. The 64 GB iPhone 6 is and was cheaper than the 32 GB iPhone SE. Even more proof that SE size is the deciding factor. Otherwise, current SE owners would be rocking the cheaper 6 with a bigger screen.
[doublepost=1550799677][/doublepost]

Most customers in the world don't buy from U.S. carriers.

Look at 2/3 of the world including Europe and China. There are no such carrier promos.

If carrier pricing represented global pricing, Apple wouldn't need to post any prices on its website.

False. There are many carrier promos overseas. I take it that you don't travel enough. I see them everywhere when I travel through Asia. Most recently on my trip to SE Asia, most Thai carriers - including Tru and AIS - discounted older iPhones heavily vs what they sold them for originally.

Besides, it doesn't matter who people buy from. Now you're going to base your argument on a claim that most people are idiots for buying from Apple when they can buy it full price for less from a carrier?

That's very bizarre thinking. It doesn't change the fact that the phones can be purchased through different carriers. This was always the case, except for the first several iPhones back in the day.

 

[JPack]

Your analogy is even more ridiculous because it's contradictory. You tell me that I shouldn't focus on the tail end of the sales cycle, but you did exactly that by constantly bringing the recently discounted iPhone SE price into the mix.

Make up your mind.

Your argument doesn't hold for two reasons:

1. We are in 2019, pal. The SE was being sold brand new by Apple in 2018 for $350/$450. The 6s is still being sold by Verizon for $350/$450, which is the same price it sold for before Apple discontinued the SE. https://www.verizonwireless.com/sma...7028&cjevent=e789f870363611e9815901300a24060b

2. The 64 GB iPhone 6 is and was cheaper than the 32 GB iPhone SE. Even more proof that SE size is the deciding factor. Otherwise, current SE owners would be rocking the cheaper 6 with a bigger screen.

1. iPhone 6s has been more expensive than the SE for bulk of the product life cycle.

2. You keep bringing up the Verizon example as if it represented global sales. Do you realize there are other bigger sales channels? Do you realize iPhone is sold in more than 70 countries? Verizon serves only one country.
[doublepost=1550799994][/doublepost]

False. There are many carrier promos oversees. I take it that you don't travel enough. I see them everywhere when I travel through Asia. Most recently on my trip to SE Asia, most Thai carriers - including Tru and AIS - discounted older iPhones heavily vs what they sold them for originally.

Besides, it doesn't matter who people buy from. Now you're going to base your argument on a claim that most people are idiots for buying from Apple when they can buy it full price for less from a carrier?

That's very bizarre thinking. It doesn't change the fact that the phones can be purchased through different carriers. This was always the case, except for the first several iPhones back in the day.

So show me those overseas examples, then. Where the 6s is the same price as SE.