iPhone SE Plus will compete with budget Chinese smartphones

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is priced at over $1,000 in the US, but Apple offers much more affordable smartphones, including the $400 iPhone SE 2020 and the $500 iPhone XR.

iPhone SE Plus will compete with budget Chinese smartphones

According to sources, Apple plans to launch a new mid-range mobile phone at a very attractive price next year to compete with brands like Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo in the Chinese/Indian markets.

Chinese optical device and camera module manufacturer Sunny Optical Technology expects orders from Huawei to drop sharply due to US sanctions. So they’re making efforts to compete for orders from Apple. Sunny Optical hopes to become a supplier of camera modules for the iPhone in 2021, but those plans are likely to come true in 2022.

By planning to release more low-cost smartphones, Apple will try to expand its supplier list and reduce manufacturing costs. The main suppliers of cameras for iPhone smartphones are Taiwanese Largan and Yujingguang, which have a slight technological advantage over Sunny Optical Technology.

As for the new smartphone, we are talking about a 5.5-inch iPhone SE Plus with a side fingerprint scanner – a new addition to the line, after the original iPhone SE some years ago.

Apple will launch a new iPhone SE Plus next year

In the coming weeks, we expect the release of a couple of iPhone models, especially the iPhone 12 5G series. This will be Apple’s first 5G iPhones so the expectations are high. Nevertheless, there are reports that Apple will not stop at the iPhone 12 series. The company is planning to release another “affordable” version of the iPhone SE next year. According to reports, the name of this phone could be iPhone SE Plus. The rumors claim that Apple will include the Touch ID buttons to reduce costs. 

Tianfeng Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, believes that the new iPhone SE will be able to reduce the overall price. According to him, this smartphone will come with a 5.5-inch or 6.1-inch screen and continue to use an LCD Display. The speculations so far believe that it will use the same case as the iPhone XR or iPhone 8.

Unfortunately, this will not be a 5G smartphone and will only support the 4G network. The main selling point of this device will probably be the A14 Bionic processor. Furthermore, Ming-Chi Kuo also said that Apple has postponed the launch of the new iPhone SE to the second half of next year. No info however on whether it will support high end features, such as over 18W fast charge technology, wireless charging capabilities and so on.