Maybe Apple should have a good look at the competition for some new ideas. There are plenty around in hard- and software. Apple these days is where the hockey puck was instead of where it will heading.
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Apple Discounts Products in China Amid Fierce Competition
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That's a very good question, and very vaid points.
Additionally, customers like choice. They are driven to buy something new when it feels truly different and better to what they already own, whether or not it objectively is or isn't [better]. Detractors can say "well foldables wasn't innovating blah blah blah" but it was still something different, and that difference piqued interest. And that's what punters want. The iPhone has remained too 'samey' for a decade now. There's no buzz associated with buying a new one that looks and feels exactly like the old one.
This is not true at all. There is plenty of buzz associated with buying a new iPhone.
Sports analogies, eh. Well find out the end of January if apple was the puck or the stick.
Apple faces the same problems like car companies
#1 Chinese smartphones evolved fast and are „cool“
#2 Chinese youth prefers to buy chinese cars and chines smartphones / procducts in general
#3 Chinese people prefer a much stronger digital integration.
#4 AI is no danger, it is cool. Apple doesn‘t offer it
Apples products have grown old. Nothing new for almost a decade now under Tim.
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Apple still leads the "premium" phone market in China which is a small piece of the overall phone market. Chinese economy - especially the middle class has been hit hard since COVID lockdowns which has impacted spending on premium goods. Some Chinese consider nationalism in their purchase but price rules most of all. The Chinese brands localize the software and marketing to a level Apple or other companies cannot or just won't. After decades of stealing tech, knock offs, its own progress in innovation, and manufacturing improvements "borrowed" from US, S.Korea and Japan they finally put out solid specs. But to say they are "cool".... that's highly subjective and impossible to claim. With cars, it's more complicated. A lot to do with early investment/foresight by the CCP about EV's to corner battery tech/materials/production. Add unmatchable cheap labour (until bots do majority of it), and billions in subsidies from the CCP throughout the supply chain and you get "decent" EV's/hybrids at prices that are unattainable anywhere else. And since China imports all their gas/oil, they are pushing their population towards EV's and infrastructure towards renewables, to be less dependent on coal and OPEC/Russia etc..
This defense of Apple doesn’t really hold up. Take “cool” for instance: in China’s automotive scene, it’s common knowledge that foreign “premium” brands are viewed as choices for older consumers. Younger buyers gravitate toward domestic Chinese brands, which have a fresh startup appeal and can churn out a Porsche-like EV in no time—Xiaomi being a prime example.
Meanwhile, Apple seems to be lagging. Its new AI features (still unfinished) are scheduled for the iPhone 16, with only a partial rollout on the iPhone 15 Pro. That’s problematic—older users won’t care about AI, and many don’t even know what it does. Meanwhile, Android is miles ahead, easily deploying AI to a massive user base. And we’ve seen Android devices shipping with more memory from day one, which helps with AI tasks.
Foldable phones? Apple still has nothing on that front.
Connectivity remains another issue. It’s already 2025, yet you can’t connect your Apple Watch to a bike computer without awkward workarounds like GymKit, whereas Android offers these capabilities out of the box.
All said, Apple is on a slow decline. The sales figures may not reflect it immediately, but the gap is growing, and Apple is slipping in multiple areas.
You really think that a majority of Chinese consumer of any age, would pick a Xiaomi EV (or any Chinese EV) over a Porsche EV if they were equally the same low price? You are dreaming. Like I said, for all the factors I mentioned, electric cars are half the price or less of most foreign ones including ICE and many with decent quality and specs. There were 500 Chinese electric car manufacturers in China in 2019. After fierce competition, "only" 100 manufacturers remained by 2023. We don't even have 20 in the rest of the world. If there were 500 foreign car brands in China, at the same price, what would happen you think?
And I'm not defending Apple by any means. The fact that Apple seems to be stagnant in a mature market doesn't mean they don't own the premium phone market in China, in a shrinking premium spending economy. And although I have yet to see an implementation of a foldable that is useful, I'm pretty sure Apple has had a working prototype for close to a decade now. And have held back like they usually do, until the right time for them and not you or me. The connectivity and AI points can all be true, but not sure what that has to do with the Chinese premium phone market. China's CCP heavily cripples ALL foreign (and even domestic) software/AI capabilities due to heavy censorship, monitoring and fear of security breach (especially GOOGLE). So many of these capabilities and advances you are referring to are either non existent, a heavily monitored government iteration, or substantially crippled in China. If anything, Chinese consumers buy these devices outside of China and bring them back so they can avoid the crippled local versions which also doesn't show up in these statistics. These discounts are also a response to the Chinese government recent banning of iOS devices within their agencies... so there's that as well that will boost local manufacturers regardless of innovation. There is an estimated 48 million public sector workers in China. Which is more people than many countries total population.
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Why? Driving a Porsche was cool and showed that you can afford an expensive foreign car. But today it is super important to be smart in china. To show other people that you are a smart guy, you drive a „smart“ car. But here comes the problem. Porsche has by no means a smart car. And european cars or US cars aren‘t smart either in comparison to chinese cars. The digital integration of those things is awesome - more than european/US customers would like to see.
https://www.businessinsider.com/chi...r-market-dominance-with-smart-features-2024-5
There are many stories of „permium markets“. One was said being held by german car manufacturers. But companies like VW missed the train and are now struggling to survive in a different world.
So, no I wouldn‘t bet on Apple regarding the chinese market.
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Latest data from Q3 2024, Apple still dominates premium handset shipments ($600+) at 52%. Down 5% but the closest rival is Huawei at 33%. The next one is Honor at 5%. Like I said, iPhone still dominates the Chinse market in premium, this is fact.
Q4 is around the corner, possible we will see an increasing decline quarter by quarter. I see the same happening here, people that have used an iPhone forever start switching to a Pixel and are amazed …
That’s why most other competitors similar priced to Apple in China saw their products soar in the same period. I think Timmy will tell something the same with their quarterly earnings February 1. It’s the economic downturn and other headwinds 🤥
Sure. Especially those that cost $0. Waiting for the analysis of sales in the price point that apple sells.
Only for mostly-American fanbois. For the rest of us especially outside America the annual launch of new iPhones is absolutely nothing special. At all. No 100-yard queues outside Apple stores on launch-day anymore. Those days are completely gone. In fact many retailers here in the UK which once sold only Apple products have either expanded their portfolios to include other brands or they have closed some-of or all-of their physical stores. One example of the latter being what was my nearest Apple-only retailer in Preston (Western Computers), which closed last year. This is driven by people just generally keeping phones for much longer, plus Apple customers switching to Android for a plethora of reasons, including getting the buzz back of buying something different.
Whether or not folks here acknowledge the bursting bubble doesn't change the trend. This is after all an Apple-centric forum, so a certain amount of ostrich syndrome is to be expected, not least among Americans who mostly remain oblivious to the world outside their border.
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It’s a phrase Timmy was using all the time but it looks like Apple doesn’t even know where the hockey puck is.
Hardly anyone camps outside. Why do i that when you can pre-order and get it the same day or the day before?
The days of having to go to a store to buy something are staying in the past. Online ordering is the way. Only old schoolers or those who want to hold the product in their hands and try it, or need assistance would go to the store.
Most people I know have switched to the iPhone from Android.
Only those who want to get the latest phone to brag to their friends would get an Android, specially those foldables with crappy plastic displays.
Apple knows, it's attached to their original/candy colored iMac
Most of use want to forget. I get hand cramps just thinking about the original iMac mouse.😑
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