Recently, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed on social media that based on his survey of the Chinese market, the demand for iPhone 14 may be greater than iPhone 13. Some supply chain sources predict that Apple’s iPhone 14 shipments may reach more than 90 million units in the second half of this year.
After reading this, Guozi was completely speechless. The iPhone 14 hasn’t even been released yet, so it’s starting to boast sales?
It is undeniable that the sales of the iPhone 13 series have greatly exceeded expectations. As of March, the iPhone 13 series has sold approximately 85.5 million units. Based on this sales volume estimate, sales of the iPhone 13 series are expected to reach 150 million units before the release of iPhone 14.
But why are iPhone 13 sales so good? Don't analysts have a clue?
Competitors performed extremely poorly
Guozi was puzzled. Does this analyst think that iPhone 13 sales are good because it has a lot of upgrades and great improvements?
To be honest, iPhone 13 is just a normal iteration with upgraded performance. Only the iPhone 13 Pro series has high performance. Apart from performance improvements, other parts are lackluster.
It is not a model with fundamental experience changes from iPhone 8 to iPhone X.
There are two very important reasons for the good sales of iPhone 13. One is that Huawei has been greatly restricted and has given up most of its share; the second is that Qualcomm is stretched, and the shortcomings of high-end Android are obvious, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is an embarrassing task, and Dimensity 9000's ISP optimization takes time.
In other words, the performance of Android flagships in the first half of this year was far lower than expected, either due to obvious heat generation or unsatisfactory image optimization.
The iPhone 13, which performs normally at this time, will definitely win. This is like Bolt running 9.80, but the competitor made a mistake and dropped to 10 seconds away. The commentator shouted that this was the best of Bolt's career. Isn't it embarrassing?
Since Steve Jobs stepped down, the problem of Apple’s lack of innovation has begun to be highlighted. In addition to relying on the still top-notch chip performance and iOS system, what creative output has Apple mobile phones led the industry in recent years?
Could it be that you think the exclamation point front camera of the iPhone 14 Pro series is beautiful and advanced? In Guozi’s view, the smartest thing about the iPhone 14 series is that it returns to the large-screen and large-battery design of the Plus series, which can effectively solve users’ battery life and large-screen entertainment needs.
But judging from the information currently exposed, the upgrade of the iPhone 14 series is not disruptive. The A16, 48MP main camera, 8K video recording, and AOD screen display are all very good, but they are not enough to attract users of the iPhone 12 series and iPhone 13 series to switch.
So Apple analysts may think that Android will still be weak in the second half of the year?
Qualcomm returns to TSMC to improve performance
Currently, some digital Up owners have obtained the engineering prototype of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ and tested it. After returning to the TSMC process, the energy consumption ratio of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ has been significantly improved compared to Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and its performance is slightly better than Dimensity 9000.
* Image source B Station Digital Up Main Geek Bay
Although it is not ideal, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ has progressed from "embarrassing and responsible" to "can be used". Of course, there is still a significant gap compared to the A15, and the iPhone 14 series will still have obvious performance advantages.
But don’t forget that iPhone pricing starts at 5999. Compared with the basic iPhone, the 5999 Android flagship has advantages such as storage space, high refresh rate, and high-power fast charging.
Fox friends, you can imagine, if the performance of Xiaomi Mi 11 series Snapdragon 888 is similar to that of Dimensity 8100, how competitive will it be? Top-notch screen quality, silicon anode battery, super-large and super-powerful image, it really has the taste of hitting the high-end, but it’s a pity that Qualcomm pulled it away.
The environment this year is not good, and manufacturers are constantly lowering their sales expectations for the second half of the year. On the one hand, the epidemic continues to affect the income of consumers, and on the other hand, Qualcomm has been holding back for two consecutive years. Users have lost their patience, and some have turned to the Apple camp.
According to a survey report by the research organization CINNO, global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2022 dropped significantly year-on-year. However, Apple was less affected because many original Huawei users and Android users switched to the iPhone 13 series.
Taken together, the peak period for non-Apple users to switch to the Apple camp has passed, and it will not be the second half of the release of the iPhone 14 series.
As mentioned before, the upgrade between iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 is not a leap, but Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ is a significant improvement over Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
There is reason to believe that users who have not yet changed their phones will tend to choose Android phones that are one price level lower than the basic iPhone, but have fast charging, large batteries, and high refresh rates.
Of course, analysts just blew it. The first Xiaomi 12S series equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ will be officially released on July 4. If Qualcomm pulls it, Apple will increase its stakes. If it doesn't pull it, it will be too late to lower sales expectations. Anyway, it will blow the whistle first.
What can I say about Apple's current status? It has won a big victory and has the capital to be aggressive. But the sales support of a product is never how well your last product sold, but how much material the product itself has.
Under the circumstances that Qualcomm has made significant progress in the second half of the year and the iPhone 14 may not even be upgraded to A16, Guozi believes that Apple’s analysts are too optimistic.
Huawei Mate 50 series returns
Several digital bloggers revealed that Huawei will release the Mate 50 series in August or September this year. There are currently renderings of the Huawei Mate 50 series leaked online, and they look real.
*Huawei Mate 50 series renderings exposed by blogger @digital chat station
According to these bloggers, the Huawei Mate 50 series is mainly equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 4G processor, but some may be equipped with Kirin 9000S processing device. I don’t know where Huawei can get the Kirin processor . Even if it is available, Guozi thinks it will be in short supply.
Even if it can only use the 5G signal in a case, the return of the Huawei Mate 50 series will inevitably have an impact on the sales of the iPhone 14 series.
In addition, there is another news worthy of attention. That is, there are Android manufacturers who want to test the Hongmeng system.
digital blogger @长安电子君 revealed that a well-known former manufacturer will also have Hongmeng system mobile phone products. This well-known former manufacturer should refer to Meizu , right? It can’t be HTC or Moto, right?
What’s more interesting is that someone from Meizu responded to this news, saying that we have not received the news, so don’t talk nonsense.Is there a possibility for
? Meizu 19 has been delayed, but is it actually preparing to launch and Hongmeng ?
If domestic mobile phone manufacturers start to test the Hongmeng ecosystem in the second half of the year, and cooperate with the domestic diversified smart home products , Guozi feels that this can really compete with the iOS ecosystem. What do you think?
Reference:
B Station Up Main Geek Bay Video: Snapdragon 8+ engineering machine preview experience! Can Qualcomm make a comeback this time?
CINNO 2022 First Quarter Global Smartphone Shipment Survey Report
Weibo screenshot
Editor: Black and white
