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The iPhone SE (2020) is CHEAPER Than The OnePlus 8…
What a time to be alive: a new OnePlus phone – the OnePlus 8 – officially costs more than Apple’s iPhone SE (2020)…
OnePlus cut its teeth as an aggressive phone brand that delivered BIG on pricing; it made flagship-grade phones and then sold them for 30-40% less than its competitors. This model worked great too; OnePlus grew rapidly over the course of its first few years in business.
But in 2020, this will change – and not in a good way. The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are the most expensive handsets OnePlus has ever released; they’re no longer flagship killers, they’re just flagships. And the top of the line 8 Pro will cost you $1000.
The entry-level OnePlus 8 got a BIG price increase over its predecessor, the biggest price hike in OnePlus history. And, unfortunately for OnePlus, the timing could not be worse. Apple just released a $399.99 iPhone…
iPhone SE (2020) Price vs OnePlus 8 Price
Apple’s iPhone SE (2020) starts at $399.99 for the 64GB model. There are additional storage options available too (128GB and 256GB), though these cost more money. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 8 will start at $699.99 for the base model (up from $480 in 2019 with the OnePlus 7).
The OnePlus 8 Pro model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will retail for $1116, pushing OnePlus well and truly into the $1000 Club, alongside Samsung, Apple, and Huawei.
For this reason, I expect OnePlus to keep its OnePlus 7T around at a heavily discounted price (like it is now in OnePlus’ store). It’ll need that phone for those that want value for money from a brand that built its reputation on delivering value for money. I mean, if you told me in 2015 that I’d be paying almost $800 for a OnePlus phone in 2020, I’d have laughed in your face.
But What About The Specs?
The iPhone SE (2020) is cheap for a reason. It is essentially a retrofitted version of the iPhone 8 with the iPhone 11’s CPU inside it. It has a 720p LCD display, TouchID, and a camera that first appeared way back in 2017. This is why it is cheap; it’s not a case of Apple trying to do something good for the world.
Conversely, the OnePlus 8’s spec sheet looks something like this:
- Display: 6.55in OLED 90Hz
- Colors: Blue, Black & Green
- Storage: 128GB or 256GB (UFS 3.0)
- RAM: 8GB/12GB (LPDDR5)
- CPU: Snapdragon 865 5G
- Main Camera: 48MP + 16MP + 2MP
- Selfie Camera: 16MP
- Battery: 4300mAh
- Fast Charge: 30W Warp Charge
- Water-Proofing: No IP Rating
So, you’re definitely getting A LOT more phone with the OnePlus 8. But will this matter to most people? Or will they be swayed by the prospect of a new iPhone for better than half of the price of the OnePlus 8? I’m no mystic but I’d be willing to wager that plenty of people would opt for the iPhone over the OnePlus 8 in 2020 and beyond.
And the reason is two-fold: 1) Apple’s brand appeal is massive; add in a cheap iPhone, after years of demand for one, and people will go nuts for it, and 2) $399.99 is cheap enough for most people to buy outright. And because it’s an iPhone, you know you’re getting iOS updates for at least the next five years.
Although for Android purists, the OnePlus 8 – even the Pro model – is still cheaper than Samsung’s latest Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S20 handsets. However, both Google (with its new Pixel 4a and Pixel 5) will enter the fray very soon and word on the street suggests that both handsets will be priced very aggressively.
Similarly, LG will be getting more aggressive with its pricing in 2020 as well with its new flagship releases. Ironically, Google, Apple, and LG are leveraging OnePlus’ traditional business model just as OnePlus takes its first step towards abandoning it. For this reason, 2020 will be a very testing time for the company.
But a $399.99 iPhone will just be too much for some to resist. And for this reason, as well as the fact the iPhone 9 will run Apple’s A13 chipset which is monumentally powerful, Apple’s 2020 iPhones could lead to another super-cycle.
What is An Apple “Super-Cycle”?
The term super-cycle was created to explain the huge demand for Apple’s iPhone 6 range; it sold a crazy amount of these handsets, both to its existing users and those previously on other platforms. It was called a super-cycle because sales of the iPhone 6 range dwarfed that of the iPhone 5s update.
But since then, Apple hasn’t really had a super-cycle. Sales have been good, pretty much across the board on all of its releases, but the iPhone 6 release was Apple’s last honest-to-goodness super-cycle. However, all this could change in 2020 with the advent of the first 5G iPhones (the iPhone 12 range) and the $399.99 iPhone SE (2020) update.
“While the last few weeks has been an exogenous ‘shock event’ to Apple’s ecosystem on both the supply and demand side due to its China exposure,” wrote Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, “we believe this will be short-lived as the longer-term 5G super-cycle thesis and services re-rating remain the crux of our bull thesis on Apple for the next 12 to 18 months.”
The only thing that could throw a potential spanner in the works is the current global pandemic; Apple’s business is driven by China – it has all its manufacturing there – and this can and will affect the production of both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 9, although Apple has been consistently down-playing this.
Still, many analysts have adjusted their sales projections for the iPhone 12 range and iPhone 9. T. Michael Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, reduced his estimated 2020 iPhone sales from 202 million to 168 million, that’s a 16.9% drop. Obviously, this will be contingent on how things pan out on a global scale.
Whatever happens, 2020’s phone market is going to have some truly excellent options for those looking for value for money. You’ll have $399.99 phones from Google and Apple, as well as cheaper flagships from LG, Xiaomi, and OPPO. The only sad thing about this is that OnePlus, even with its base model OnePlus 8, will be missing from this list.
And that’s the first time this has happened for almost half a decade…
DEAL OF THE WEEK:
The OnePlus 7T Has Had Its Price SLASHED (Click Here For The Latest Deals)