Apple is reportedly bringing out a cheap iPhone in 2020

Business Insider/Steve Kovach

The iPhone SE was the company's last low-cost device.

• Apple is planning to launch a low-cost iPhone in spring next year, sources told Nikkei Asian review. The sources said the phone would be roughly a 4.7-inch screen, but the name and price tag haven't been decided yet.
• The floated low-cost phone is being billed as a successor to the iPhone SE, a $399 model brought out in 2016.
  
• The news outlet reported that the new phone is designed to try and claw back market share from Chinese smartphone giant Huawei, which has won consumers over with cheaper high-end devices.
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Apple is planning to launch a new, low-cost iPhone to help claw back its market share in the smartphone business, sources told Nikkei Asian review.

The new phone is planned for spring next year, and is viewed as a next-generation version of the 2016 iPhone SE, which started at $399. Three sources told Nikkei that the device will be similar in size to the 2017 iPhone 8, which had a 4.7-inch screen. No name or price tag have been decided for the phone as yet. Apple's current flagship, the iPhone XR, clocks in at $749.

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The same sources said this new phone will have the same components as Apple's upcoming line of flagship phones, but the cost-saver will be a liquid crystal (LCD) display rather than an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen. OLED screens project pixels from the screen itself, rather than projecting them through a layer of glass as is the case with LCD displays.

Apple's hold on the smartphone market has been slipping. Last month it sank down a ranking to fourth-biggest smartphone manufacturer behind Samsung, Huawei, and Oppo. Tech analyst at GF Securities Jeff Pu told Nikkei that a spring release date for a more affordable iPhone could be a revenue injection for Apple.

"The cheaper iPhone SE could serve as a sales momentum kicker the first half next year, if the new premium iPhones do not perform well in the coming months," Pu told the news outlet.

Apple is due to announce its next iPhone at its annual September event next week, although this will likely focus on its next high-end, flagship device.

Apple was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider.