👉 Background: Apple is the most valuable brand in the whole wide world with its sleek design, slick stores and fancy products — from the iPhone to MacBooks to Apple Watch and Airpods. It’s got many customers wrapped around its trillion dollar fingers.

‍👉 What happened: Now, Apple has done something very uncharacteristic. While it usually waits to announce new products in September, CEO Tim Cook as just released a new iPhone...in February. Yep, Apple has announced the launch of a new, cheaper iPhone - the iPhone 16e.

‍👉 What else: This phone has got most of the software features in the iPhone 16 but at a much cheaper price point. And, while Apple claims this release has always been part of roadmap, it might just be a hail-mary after its iPhone 16 didn’t drive enough upgrades during the all-important holiday quarter.

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‍What's the key learning?

💡In the battle for market share, sometimes even premium brands needs a more accessible price tag. Get this: Apple’s iPhone sales declined in the December quarter by 1% compared to the previous year, compared to the expectations of a jump of 1.4%.

💡While the iPhone 16 was meant to be the bees-knees with all its sexy Apple Intelligence (AI) capability, it was still not enough to convince customers to take the $1900 plunge. Apple not only had a slow December quarter, but its also losing market share to its cheaper rivals and lost 1.5% market share, while cheaper Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Vivo scooped it up.

💡Right now, Apple faces a delicate balance: if they stay too premium, they risk losing customers to cheaper competitors. But if they go too cheap, they dilute the brand’s exclusivity.