The iPhone SE failed to get off the ground during its launch weekend, with less than 2,000 units distributed across New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Steep pricing of the handset, which sees the 16GB model selling for ₹39,000 and the 64GB edition for ₹49,000, is the main factor behind the tepid response toward the phone.
Citing a "senior trade partner," ET Tech wrote:
Both the consumer and media hype, which usually happen around a new iPhone, was completely missing for the iPhone SE in India. Hence, Apple has got less stock to build up the buzz and will also run promotion schemes to make the model affordable.
The phone will undoubtedly pick up momentum once Apple corrects its pricing to a more reasonable figure. According to GreyHound Research CEO Sanchit Vir Gogia, that may occur after the company runs through its inventory of the iPhone 5s:
Apple imported many iPhone 5S units in Q4 of 2015. It is likely that Apple hasn't yet finished this stock of the iPhone 5S in India and it is waiting to get rid of inventory before moving to fix the price of the iPhone SE.
Apple is also set to roll out buyback schemes for the iPhone SE shortly in a bid to incentivize its latest handset before the price correction.
