Ammon News - Apple launched on Wednesday a budget-minded phone with artificial intelligence, the iPhone 16e, designed to win back mid-market customers at home and in crucial growth markets China and India.

The new phone, which drops the SE naming convention for Apple's budget series, will take on popular Android smartphones at a time when rivals Samsung (005930.KS), opens new tab and China's Huawei are adding AI tools to their devices.

Sales of Apple phones dropped last quarter, and sales of its budget line of phones have plummeted as a proportion of iPhone revenue over the last decade.

The 16e will cost $599, a $170 boost from the previous entry level phone, the SE, although its features are closer to Apple's flagships and include a powerful chip to run Apple Intelligence, a set of features with access to ChatGPT. Aside from having no wide-angle camera lens, one missing button and a slightly different display, the 16e looks much like its pricier siblings. Reuters