Apple is likely to introduce a lower-cost 5G iPhone at a spring product launch event, analysts say. The “iPhone SE 3” would kick off an expected slew of new products in 2022, which could be a catalyst for Apple stock.
Patrick Seitz for Investor’s Business Daily:
The third-generation iPhone SE might provide a lift to Apple’s smartphone sales, especially in emerging markets like China.
Apple hasn’t upgraded its entry-level iPhone SE handset in two years. The current 4G model starts at $399, vs. $599 for Apple’s cheapest 5G smartphone, the iPhone 12 Mini. Apple’s second-generation 5G smartphones, the iPhone 13 series, start at $699.
Loop Capital Markets analyst John Donovan said he’s heard rumors that the new iPhone SE could start at $300. Donovan rates Apple stock as buy.
Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives thinks Apple will stick with the $399 starting price, but wouldn’t rule out a lower price.
“Apple needs to make sure that it doesn’t outprice itself in the midst of the strongest iPhone upgrade cycle it’s had since 2015,” Ives told Investor’s Business Daily. Ives rates Apple stock as outperform with a price target of 200.
JPMorgan analysts in December predicted that the new iPhone could spur a wave of switchers from Android smartphones. It has the potential to lure some of the nearly 1.4 billion users of low to midrange Android phones and about 300 million users of older model iPhones, the investment bank said in a report to clients.