Bloomberg: iPhone 16e launch pre-orders were dozens of times weaker than iPhone 16 and 16 Pro
On 28 February, worldwide sales of iPhone 16e, which became the most budget current smartphone from Apple, started.
It was assumed that the combination of relatively low cost and quite high technical characteristics will encourage buyers to pay attention to the gadget, but the first day showed an extremely weak interest in the iPhone 16e.
Here's What We Know
In a new edition of Power On's weekly news digest, authoritative insider and Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reported that iPhone 16e pre-orders were ten times weaker than they were for the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro.
Several Apple Store branches I spoke with said they received just a few dozen iPhone 16e pre-orders on launch day. Pre-orders for the new flagship iPhones could be a few hundred or more than a thousand per shop on launch day.
However, Gurman emphasised that such numbers do not reflect a general decline in interest in the iPhone, as the potential audience for the 16e does not overlap with those who prefer to buy the flagship models, which continue to have consistently high sales.
Flashback
The iPhone 16e has a 6.1″ OLED screen with Face ID support. The smartphone is equipped with an Apple A18 chip and 8 GB of RAM to run Apple Intelligence. The novelty became the first iPhone model to get Apple C1 modem.
The front panel of the iPhone 16e is identical to the iPhone 13 and 14, but the rear body turned out to be unique - it received only one 48MP camera, while the front camera has a resolution of 12MP.
Source: Bloomberg
