Apple's iPhone 16e outsells the SE, but may not reverse China sales slide

In China, Apple’s new $599 iPhone 16e is now outpacing the sales of the $429 third-generation iPhone SE in which was released a few years back.

However, this still won't be enough to reverse the declining sales in the country, Bloomberg reported, citing analyst firm IDC.

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The iPhone 16e sales were 60% stronger in its opening three days, compared to the iPhone SE from 2022, but the forecast remains that China sales will decline about 2% overall this year.

An important reason is that the device has only one rear camera, limited base storage and insufficient AI features (Though Apple is wokring to bring its Apple Intelligence suite to Chinese consumers as early as the middle of this year), making it a tougher sell in the region.

The competition from Android will be even stronger, strengthened by the national China subsidies which will benefit Android significantly more than Apple,” the report quoted Nabila Popal, IDC senior director, as saying.

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The Chinese government has also set aside 300 billion yuan (in excess of $41 billion) for subsidies to stimulate the consumer economy, according to the report.

This aid got extended to smartphones in the recent months, helping the likes of Xiaomi Corp. and Vivo to increase their sales.

Yet another reason for the slowing sales is that “many consumers in China place an emphasis on ‘face’ — not wanting to be seen as having a lower-priced iPhone,” the report quoted IDC’s Bryan Ma as having said.

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However, the 16e can potentially make up as much as a fifth of iPhone sales in India in the second half of the year, according to the report.