iPhone SE attracting Android switchers, unlikely to cannibalize iPhone 12 sales - 9to5Mac

Over 30% of iPhone SE buyers came from using an iPhone 6S or older handset—handsets four years old or older. Over 26% of iPhone SE users moved over from an Android device, which is higher than normal Android to iOS switching.

A work friend’s wife was recently looking for a new phone, and she just wanted something good that wasn’t a $1,000 flagship. He was looking at the Pixel 3a or OnePlus 7, and was considering waiting for the 4a whenever that actually comes out.

I suggested they look at the iPhone SE and they were genuinely shocked how good it was and that it was only $399. “This is too good to be true, what’s the catch?” was uttered during our conversation, and I said it was basically just the smaller screen and chunky bezels. For her, the smaller screen was a feature, and the bezels were no big deal. When I said the phone had the same A13 chip that the $1,500 iPhone 11 Pro Max had, they were sold. Not only was this going to be a faster phone than Android device that comes out in the next 1-2 years, it was also going to get software updates for at least 5 years based on Apple’s track record.

I think people in our community have a tendency to exaggerate how much things like bezel-less phones are to people. People want something:

• Fast
• Reliable
• Will last for years

Oh, and they frankly just want an iPhone. The iPhone SE makes compromises to hit its price point, but by making it less appealing to people like us, they’ve made something incredibly appealing to the mass market.