When Apple unveiled its latest line of smartphones last week, the company simultaneously pulled the plug on some of its older models. Apple discontinued the iPhone 12, the iPhone 13 mini and the iPhone 14 Pro series to make way for the new models, which become available today. Even with the aforementioned models gone, Apple now has an iPhone for (almost) every wallet, starting with the budget-friendly iPhone SE from $429 and ending with the top-of-the-line 1TB iPhone 15 Pro Max for a whopping $1,599 in the United States (and significantly more in other parts of the world).
For many years, Apple has been criticized for catering almost exclusively to the high-end market, a strategy that made it extremely difficult for the company to gain traction in emerging markets. In light of slowing smartphone sales in mature markets, Apple has adjusted its strategy in recent years towards offering a more complete range of phones. Keeping previous years’ models around for a reduced price has become the company’s go-to strategy for attracting price-sensitive buyers, while the iPhone SE line remains the cheapest ticket to the Apple ecosystem.
