• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
TechApple

iPhone SE Won’t Be as Popular as Apple Hopes, Study Says

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 23, 2016, 11:02 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Apple’s newly announced iPhone SE could be less popular than the company hopes, according to a new study.

Apple (AAPL) will sell between 4 million and 6 million iPhone SE units in the U.S. in its first year of availability, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) wrote in a study released this week. CIRP added that it’s unlikely for current owners of Apple’s larger iPhones to “trade down” to the iPhone SE.

“The analysis indicates the limited opportunity for Apple to sell the smaller iPhone SE in the U.S.,” Mike Levin, partner and co-founder of CIRP, said in a statement. “Very few of the 81 million consumers that already own a larger iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, or 6s or 6s Plus, are likely to trade down to the smaller iPhone SE.”

The other issue, says Josh Lowitz, Levin’s partner, is that CIRP’s survey of 500 Apple customers shows that the vast majority of current iPhone owners may be more interested in going up in screen size, rather than sticking with a 4-inch display.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

“A significant number of the 29 million consumers that currently own an older iPhone will also want to trade up to the larger phones,” Lowitz said in a statement. “Our data suggests in the past year, 85-90% of consumers that replaced an older 4-inch screen iPhone upgraded to the new, larger iPhone models—the 6, 6 Plus, 6s, or 6s Plus. So, we expect perhaps 3-4 million, or 10-15% of the 29 million US 4-inch iPhone base, to purchase the new iPhone SE.”

Apple announced its long-rumored iPhone SE at a special press event Monday. The device comes with a nearly identical design to that of the iPhone 5s, the smartphone the company launched in 2013 and had been selling until the SE came along. Despite the design similarities, the iPhone SE boasts a better processor and camera than the iPhone 5s.

Perhaps most important, the device is cheaper than the iPhone 5s. While Apple was previously selling its decidedly underpowered iPhone 5s for a starting price of $450, the iPhone SE starts at $399.

For more about Apple, watch:

It’s important to note, therefore, that CIRP’s data may be comparing two entirely different things. Customers may have been choosing the larger-screened iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s over the last couple of years due to iPhone 5s power issues compared with its alternatives. And with a more affordable price tag, it’s possible that Apple could attract more shoppers to the iPhone SE than it did to the iPhone 5s.

“It was a bit of a surprise that [Apple] dropped the price of the entry-level iPhone more than 10%, even as they copied over most of the cool new technology of the iPhone 6s,” Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst Frank Gillett told Fortune on Monday. “Getting below $400 is a new level that will draw interest from buyers who thought they could only afford Android.”

He added that the company’s new strategy on pricing could help it “reach a lot of people.”

Indeed, the U.S. isn’t the only market that Apple cares about. The company was quick to note at its “Let us loop you in” event Monday that while the iPhone SE will be available to a handful of countries this month, it plans to sell it in 110 countries by the end of May. It’s in those countries—especially emerging markets where price sensitivity is a concern—that the iPhone SE could be successful.

Read more: Apple Watch Gets $50 Price Cut and New Watchbands

“The smaller iPhone SE is targeting existing Apple customers who prefer the old 4-inch display size, as well as first-time iPhone users as a lower priced entry point into the Apple ecosystem,” Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Securities, wrote to investors Monday.

In the U.S., though, CIRP believes the possibility of first-time phone buyers and even people looking to switch from an Android device to the iPhone SE will be relatively slight. The company said that in the past year, across all iPhone models, just 17% of those who own an Apple smartphone previously owned an Android handset. What’s more, just 1% of all iPhone customers in the U.S. are first-time phone buyers, CIRP says.

“We also think that relatively few Android switchers and first-time phone buyers will opt to purchase the iPhone SE,” Levin said.

CIRP’s findings are just the latest to throw cold water on the iPhone SE’s chances of success. Several analysts told Reuters on Tuesday that based on their understanding of market demand in key markets such as China and India, the iPhone SE could be a flop.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

t
AIMarkets
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg warns Trump’s AI ownership plan would make ‘George Orwell blush’
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
8 hours ago
U.N. reports Southeast Asia’s criminal networks are using tech to build a global illicit economy
AsiaTech
U.N. reports Southeast Asia’s criminal networks are using tech to build a global illicit economy
By The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
9 hours ago
Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion over pirated books used to train Claude in first major AI copyright settlement
LawAnthropic
Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion over pirated books used to train Claude in first major AI copyright settlement
By The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
9 hours ago
kid lying down on phone
PoliticsSocial Media
Lawmakers say they’re protecting kids—but their age checks are quietly building an ID requirement for the entire internet
By Catherina GioinoJuly 21, 2026
9 hours ago
holland
Arts & EntertainmentMovies
‘The audience is telling the industry something’: even IMAX is stunned by Christopher Nolan’s runaway ‘Odyssey’
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 21, 2026
10 hours ago
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman looking up.
CybersecurityOpenAI
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
11 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
11 hours ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
14 hours ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
15 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.