Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, visits an Apple store in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty ... [+] Images/2015)Getty ImagesApples eagerly awaited return to the ultra-competitive mid-range smartphone market with a new iPhone SE could happen in the next week.Writing for Bloomberg, noted Apple reporter Mark Gurman offering a schedule for the release of the iPhone SE; and its faster than many anticipated: "The company expects to announce the device as early as next week, ahead of it going on sale later in the month, according to people with knowledge of the matter."When Was The iPhone SE Expected To Launch?The launch of the fourth iPhone SE has been pencilled in for Q1 2025 by the community for nearly a year, although recent reporting has pointed to a late March release, possibly slipping into early April. This would happen close to the release of iOS 18.4 and the final steps in the first generation suite of AI tools awkwardly backronymed to Apple Intelligence.Those plans look set to change, at least in part. Although Gurman reports a launch in the coming days, the actual release of the iPhone SE is a more nebulous later in the month, pushing deeper into Q1.Why Should The iPhone SE Launch Early?There are some advantages for Tim Cook and his team if the decision is made to reveal the iPhone SE at this point in time.First, launching a new iPhone will boost overall sales. While the iPhone 15 was the top-selling smartphone in global sales for 2024, Apples global share of the smartphone market fell in the last quarter of 2024, according to data from Counterpoint Research. This quarter includes the vast majority of sales of the current iPhone 16 family.Then, there is the competitive nature of the mid-range market. Before Apple can sell the iPhone SE it has to stop consumers from buying a smartphone from another manufacturer. This years Mobile World Congress will take place on Monday, March 3, and a raft of new smartphones will be announced, many of which will directly compete with the iPhone SE.While the die-hards in the Apple community will wait for the SE, the average consumer may not be as connected to the release dates. Launching and releasing before MWC will give the iPhone SE a clearer run to the market.Finally, Apple can take better control of the story by launching early. In the MWC run-up, many smartphones set to launch in Barcelona will have their specs, details and unique features leaked. Manufacturers will hope this ties in with their marketing decisions, but that may not be the case. The same is trueperhaps more so for any new iPhone release.What Challenges Will The iPhone SE Face?It has been three years since Apple launched a mid-range smartphone, and the market has changed. Cameras have multiple lenses and improved optics, chipsets are faster with more performance, storage and memory have grown closer to flagship levels, and generative AI has become a huge selling point in the last year.Apples AI efforts are competent at best, the main camera is expected to offer just a single lens and the iPhone price premium could work against the hardware in such a competitive space. Apple's decision to get ahead of the story and set its own terms may be the most significant benefit of an early announcement.With all that said, the iPhone SE could become one of the pivotal iPhones to come out of Cupertino in years.Now read more about the potential specifications of the iPhone SE...