Hong Kong
CNN
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Apple on Friday offered the latest version of the phone-friendly phone for east-selling in major markets in an attempt to woo price-sensitive customers in countries like China and India.
The launch of the iPhone 16E, which costs $ 599 and is equipped with artificial intelligence, came the same week that Chinese rival Huawei rolled out his leading trifold phone at a rare foreign launch event. Apple’s iPhone 16 starts at $ 799.
Analysts said the mid-range pricing strategy and the earlier-preferred release showed Apple’s efforts to adopt in less-end markets. The new handset replaces the SE series and is the first lower-price model of Apple since 2022.
“16 E is a big step from SE and aligns more closely with the demand of the market in that upper middle-end section, but China is a hyper competitive, especially in that price range,” Archie Zhang, a market, A senior analyst of a market, a market analysis firm, told CNN.
In China, Apple’s second largest market, homegron giant Huawei, made a stunning comeback after the pummail by US sanctions since 2019. According to canalis data, Huawei, a market research firm, overtook the cuptino-based technology giants with 16 last year. % Market share compared to 15% of Apple. In 2023, compared to 12% of Huawei, Apple was comfortable with 19% market share.
Last year, the iPhone manufacturer started its Apple Intelligence, which has so far released its AI service to limit English -speaking markets including the US, Britain, Canada and Australia. Chinese tech veteran Alibaba said last week that Apple had chosen to work with it in rolling its AI features in China, although the release date is not clear.
AI, in addition to slow rollouts of features and fierce competition from Chinese brands like Oppo, Huawei and Vivo, which often offer high glasses at low prices, Apple also faces challenges like more patriotism among Chinese consumers, Lori According to Chang, a senior analyst in the market, a senior analyst in the market, research company Isaiah Research.
Globally, Apple is fast facing a difficult battle in wooing new customers. According to Counterpoint Research, its smartphone sales are at its peak in 2022, and its global shipment shares have fallen from 19.3% in 2023 to 18.2% last year.
On Tuesday, Huawei released its trifold smartphone The Met XT in the Malaysian capital, marking one of its largest foreign smartphone launch as it affected the export restrictions imposed by US President Donald Trump during its first term in 2019. Was.
A Huawei spokesperson told CNN, “The importance of foreign launch of XT is to show how far we can go.”
The world’s first commercial trifold phone, which spreads two hinges and spread like a tablet, was launched at home in China in September, when Apple introduced its iPhone 16. As a luxury tool.
Huawei’s high-profiles outside China have a symbolic significance as this is another sign of its revival. However, its foreign phone sales are unlikely to touch sky in the near future, as it depends on a domestic chipmaker for advanced semi -circulators, which has struggled to promote production under US sanctions, Chang said.
In 2018, before the ban, Huawei sold about half of its smartphones outside China. But after Trump stopped access to important techniques such as semiconductor chips in 2019, its global phone sales increased. Its global smartphone shipment share was only 4.1% last year.
Chang said, “Over the next two years, Huawei will probably focus on strengthening its market status as it works to stabilize the output in chip production to ensure adequate smartphone production, before that That they can move forward. ”
