March 2 (Reuters) – Apple on Monday launched iPhone 17e, its extra reasonably priced smartphone mannequin that begins at a worth of $599 with 256 gigabytes of storage, because it appears to defend its share in a fiercely aggressive world handset market.
The transfer comes as reminiscence chip costs climb amid a world scarcity, suggesting Apple is prepared to soak up some element price strain to make its lowest-priced mannequin extra compelling.
By providing increased storage at the identical worth level, Apple is positioning the 17e as a stronger worth choice because it appears to draw new customers and defend market share towards rivals going through tighter provide constraints.
Some analysts view the upper storage at the identical beginning worth as successfully a worth lower, since clients beforehand needed to pay an upcharge to entry the upper capability.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Modifying by Anil D’Silva)
