Why iPhone 16 is likely to lose ground in China

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 16 on September 9 (California time, or September 10 China time). At about the same time, Huawei will hold an event to launch a "tri-fold" smartphone with 2 hinges.

Richard Yu Chengdong, president of Huawei's global business group, said the company will launch its "most leading, innovative and groundbreaking" products at the event scheduled for September 10 (China time).

Apple has faced increasing pressure in China, one of its most important markets, recently dropping out of the top five suppliers by shipments there.

The company's challenges could be exacerbated with the iPhone 16 due to uncertainty over the availability of Apple Intelligence (the new artificial intelligence (AI) system built into iPhones, iPads and Macs) in China.

China's ban on ChatGPT means that part of Apple Intelligence's feature set will not be available in China.

“The iPhone will continue to see market share erosion in the premium segment by Huawei and other Chinese brands,” said Ivan Lam, senior analyst at consultancy Counterpoint Research.

Apple's sales in China fell 5.7% in the second quarter of this year, although overall sales in the same period worldwide increased 6% due to recovering consumer demand, according to Counterpoint data.

All major Chinese smartphone brands grew in the second quarter except Oppo, whose sales fell nearly 10%.

Huawei had the biggest growth in the quarter, up more than 44%, thanks to the launch of the Pura 70 and Nova 12 series.

So far, China has approved more than 180 GenAI products, all developed by local companies.

Apple Intelligence is intended to improve Apple's virtual assistant Siri, making it more contextually aware and allowing it to provide better answers to user queries. Other AI features include helping users compose emails and edit images.

Some companies are partnering with local vendors to provide AI services on their devices. For example, Samsung Electronics is using Baidu's big language model Ernie for its Galaxy line.

So far, Apple has given no indication of how it will provide AI for new products in China, which could put Apple at a disadvantage as competitors race to integrate AI into their smartphones, according to Lucas Zhong, an analyst at Canalys.

But pent-up demand from people looking to upgrade their iPhones could still help drive new phone sales in China, according to Ivan Lam, adding that sales could be “slightly higher” in the second half of 2024 than a year ago.

Source: https://laodong.vn/cong-nghe/ly-do-iphone-16-de-that-the-tai-trung-quoc-1389123.ldo