JP Morgan Says The Launch Of The IPhone SE 5G At A Low Price Will Attract Low-end Android Users

JAKARTA – Apple Inc. plans to launch the iPhone SE 5G which could have the potential to attract more than one billion non-premium Android users. This emerged from JP Morgan analysts on Monday, December 13.

The US company is expected to launch an iPhone SE with 5G capabilities in early 2022, according to media and brokerage reports. Analysts, meanwhile, added that the model would allow Apple to target the mid-range smartphone market, which is dominated by competitors such as Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies.

This upcoming phone from Apple has the potential to lure nearly 1.4 billion low- to mid-range Android phones and some 300 million users of older iPhone models, according to broker estimates.

"Apple's trade-in program for non-iPhones is admittedly not as attractive as the iPhone trade-in value, but it could lead to an average starting price range of $269 to $399 for the iPhone SE 5G, which is still very competitive," said the analyst, Samik Chatterjee, who gave the Refinitiv Eikon a five-star rating for its forecast accuracy.

As reported by Reuters, the iPhone SE currently retails for $399, compared to $799 for the iPhone 13 and $999 for the iPhone 13 Pro.

Since launching its new iPhone 13 and iPad lineup last September, Apple has struggled to keep up with global chip shortages and supply chain disruptions.

Meanwhile, Apple stocks have extended their run, with the company inching closer to $3 trillion in market cap.

In a separate note, JPMorgan said consumer demand for major upgrades such as 5G models is expected to remain strong and also be a supply priority, even as that demand wanes for most hardware products including mobile phones, TVs, and PCs.

The broker raised its forecast for iPhone SE unit sales for the fiscal year 2022 to 30 million units and its annual iPhone shipment expectations to 250 million units, 10 million more than a year earlier.

JPM raised its target price for Apple to its highest on Wall Street to US$210 from USD 180, according to Refinitiv Eikon.