According to supply chain sources with Economic Daily News, Apple may be relaunching a 4.7-inch iPhone in 2020 — which means it would have the same size as the iPhone 8. This model is expected to include an A13 chip, 128GB of storage, and a single-lens camera. And Apple will give it a lower price of about $650.
Apple stopped selling the iPhone SE last year in the U.S. But it is still available through third-party retailers and in certain countries like India. Apple is likely considering the 4.7-inch size due to demand from a customer base who prefer smaller phone designs.
The 4.7-inch iPhone rumored for 2020 will likely not be that different from the iPhone 8 as it would have a similar chassis, bezel sizes, and also include the Touch ID home button. So the main changes would be newer internal components such as the chipset, modem, and Wi-Fi chip. By offering an iPhone at lower price points, it could potentially increase sales in emerging markets throughout Asia and South America.
However, AppleInsider pointed out that analysts are wary about this strategy as they cited the sales strategies of high-, mid-, and low-tier devices sold by HTC and Samsung. The high-end and low-end devices like the iPhone XS and iPhone SE did well. But the mid-tier devices did not go very far. So simply repackaging an iPhone 8 may not be a good idea for Apple to pursue. And at the same time, a mid-tier device could actually cannibalize the sales of Apple’s upper-end models — which have better profit margins.
