Low-priced version iPhone to be released in spring 2020

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

iPhone廉価版、20年春にも発売へ　米アップル

ネット・IT 北米

2019/9/4 18:00日本経済新聞　電子版

米アップルはスマートフォン「iPhone（アイフォーン）」の価格を抑えた新製品を2020年春にも発売することが4日、明らかになった。有機ELよりも安価な液晶パネルを使い、最新機種より画面を小さくする。アップルが得意としてきた高級機種は中国経済の減速などで販売が落ち込んでいる。廉価版を投入し、韓国のサムスン電子や中国の華為技術（ファーウェイ）などの商品に対抗する。

複数の関係者が日本経済新聞の取材で明らかにした。16年に発売した「SE」の後継機という位置づけで、来春にも発売する。アップルは今月10日に発表会を開く予定だが、今秋に発売する上位機種の披露が中心になる見通し。同社は廉価版の新製品に関する日経新聞の問い合わせには回答しなかった。

画面の大きさは17年に発売した4.7インチの「8」とほぼ同じで安価な液晶パネルを使うことで価格を抑える。そのほか多くの部品は上位機種とほぼ同じものを使う。価格は未定だが、サムスン電子の「ギャラクシーA30」（4万円前後）などの競合商品に対抗する。

iPhoneを取り巻く環境は厳しさが増している。米中貿易摩擦の影響でスマホの最大市場の中国でiPhoneの販売台数が振るわず、世界全体でも減少している。米調査会社IDCによると19年4～6月のスマホ世界シェアはiPhoneは10%でサムスン電子、ファーウェイに次いで3位になっている。

Translation

The US Apple announced on the 4th that it would launch a new product in the spring of 2020 that kept the price of the “iPhone” in check. It would use a liquid crystal panel that was cheaper than organic EL and make the screen smaller than the latest model. Sales of high-end models that Apple had been good at had declined due to a slowdown in the Chinese economy. A low-priced version would be launched to compete with products such as Samsung Electronics in Korea and Huawei in China.

Several officials revealed this in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun interview. Positioned as the successor to the “SE” released in 2016, it would be released next spring. Apple planned to hold a presentation on the 10th of this month, but it was expected to focus on showing the top models to be released this fall. The company did not respond to Nikkei newspaper inquiries about the new low-priced product.

The size of the screen would be almost the same as the 4.7-inch “8” released in 2017, and the price would be reduced by using an inexpensive LCD panel. Many other parts would use almost the same parts as the top model. The price was undecided, but it would compete with competing products such as Samsung Electronics' Galaxy A30 (around 40,000 yen).

The environment surrounding the iPhone was becoming increasingly severe. Due to the US-China trade friction, iPhone sales in China as the largest market for smartphones was below expectation; even in the world it was declining. According to the US research company IDC, the global market share of iPhone in April-June 2019 was 10%, ranking third after Samsung Electronics and Huawei.

     So, the iPhone manufacture is also aiming at making cheaper models in order to expand its market share.