It appears that for those who are looking to purchase Apple’s newest smartphone offering -- the iPhone SE, they may have a difficult time trying to get one. During a conference call to discuss the tech giant’s latest quarterly earnings results, Tim Cook, the chief executive officer of Apple, revealed that the demand for the iPhone SE has been really high, and as a matter of fact, has gotten to levels wherein supply can not keep up.
As seen online on the Apple Store, the wait time for getting an iPhone SE unit is between two to three weeks, and this applies to all variants of the device. In major urban areas in the United States, such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and New York, the smartphone is listed as unavailable for in-store pickup at nearly all stores or outlets.
The fact that there seems to be high demand for the iPhone SE should be a welcome surprise for Apple. Many industry watchers view the tech giant’s decision to launch a smaller iPhone offering as a sort of a gamble, especially when one considers that most if not all high profile smartphone releases are of the phablet variety (handsets that feature large display screen sizes).
It is no secret that Apple was targeting a special niche of consumers in releasing its iPhone SE device. The handset was intended for those who want to get a smaller iPhone at a more affordable price, and for those have not gotten to upgrading their old iPhone devices yet. And now, it looks like Apple may have underestimated the projected demand.
Interestingly, the high demand for the iPhone SE comes at a time of struggle for the mighty Apple. The tech giant recently revealed that it had posted its first ever decline in iPhone sales during the first quarter of this year, with the total volume of iPhone shipments dropping 16 percent to 51.2 million units, compared to the 61.1 million units shipped during the first quarter of 2015 last year. iPhone sales make up more than two thirds of Apple’s total revenues, and a dip in smartphone shipments will likely translate to slow overall sales for the company.
Released by the end of March early this year, the iPhone SE is sort of a hybrid of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6s, combining the small dimensions of the former while sporting the processing prowess and features of the latter. The price of the device starts at $399.
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