Honey, I shrunk the iPhone

Dubai - The US smartphone manufacturer unveiled the iPhone SE on Tuesday.

Apple's newly launched smartphone will help the Cupertino-based company to significantly increase its market share in the UAE. It is expected that a lot of users in the UAE would opt for the 4-inch iPhone SE priced at Dh1,649. The device will hit stores in the country early next month.
The US smartphone manufacturer unveiled the iPhone SE on Tuesday. Apple's least expensive iPhone comes with almost the same features as the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
"Today, we're welcoming a new member to the iPhone family," Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook said.
The more compact phone design comes after Apple expanded the size of the screens in its high-end iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones in 2014 to 5.5 inches. That was broadly seen as an attempt to match rival Samsung Electronics with its large-screen Galaxy phones.
"This is Apple's first entry into this price range, which is much required and people would welcome it. There are a lot of users who want to buy a good smartphone at this price," Emax Electronics chief executive officer Neelesh Bhatnagar told Khaleej Times.
Bhatnagar believes the new device will be successful as it offers good value for money. "They are using the same technology of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in this new device. It's an affordable iPhone," he explained.
The iPhone SE takes the iPhone design and reinvents it from the inside out, giving customers a powerful, full-featured iPhone, no matter which model they choose. The 64-bit A9 chip, introduced in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, offers iPhone SE customers two times faster CPU and three times faster GPU performance compared to iPhone 5s, all with gains in energy efficiency for improved battery life.
This segment is now dominated by Chinese smartphone manufacturers, Bhatnagar said, adding that this is a huge untapped market.
In the UAE, the iPhone SE will be available in space grey, silver, gold and rose gold metallic finishes at a starting price of Dh1,649 for a 16 GB model and Dh2,049 for a 64 GB model.
Customers in the UK, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, US Virgin Islands and the US will be able to order iPhone SE beginning March 24, with availability from March 31.
In the second phase, the iPhone SE will be available in early April in the UAE along with Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Guernsey, Jersey, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Maldives, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey.
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com