text/Sun Pengyue
edit/Dafeng
At 1 a.m. on September 8, the 2022 Apple autumn press conference was held as scheduled.
The most popular iPhone14 series has completely bid farewell to the "small screen flagship". Due to the poor sales of two consecutive generations of iPhone 12/13 mini, Apple directly cut off the mini version. In contrast, the iPhone 14 series has newly added Plus models, and everything is like Apple compromises for the large screen.
In addition to the iPhone 14 series, Apple has also updated the two product lines of Apple Watch and AirPods Pro, and has launched the more professional and higher-priced Apple Watch Ultra for the first time.
It is worth mentioning that just two days ago, Huawei also held a press conference. The new generation of flagship phones, Mate 50, was released, which is also the encounter between the Apple Digital Series and the Huawei Mate Series after two years.
two major brands released flagship phones almost at the same time, which is quite meaningful to compete. It also brought enough attention to the mobile phone market that has been cold for a long time.
driving history reverse
iPhone 14 series has not seen a price increase as media speculated. The starting price of iPhone 14 starts at 5,999 yuan, the newly added iPhone 14 Plus starts at 6,999 yuan, and the iPhone 14 Pro starts at 7999 yuan, iPhone 14 The starting price of Pro Max is 8,999 yuan; each grade is 1,000 yuan more expensive, which is very consistent with the obsessive-compulsive disorder of Apple .
It is worth mentioning that although the starting price of the lowest configuration has not changed, the higher specifications of memory have indeed increased, among which 256G has increased by 100 yuan, 512G has increased by 300 yuan, and the 1TB version has increased by 500 yuan.
This time the iPhone 14 series can be called "reversing the history": the iPhone 14/Plus SoCs use full-blooded A15 chip, which is last year's iPhone 13 Pro/Max and chip; while the latest flagship SoC A16 chip is made from Exclusive to iPhone 14 Pro/Max.
This is the first time Apple has used old chips in its digital flagship series since the birth of iPhone and A-series chips.
iPhone 14/Plus
In addition to the hardware configuration, the appearance of the iPhone 14 series has not changed much this time, and it is still a right-angle border + new colors, continuing the design habit of "technology is mainly based on color change". iPhone 14/Plus comes in five colors: light blue, pink purple, black (midnight), white (starlight), and red; iPhone 14 Pro/Max comes in four colors: dark purple, gold, silver, and black. The only highlight of
is that the iPhone 14 Pro/Max has changed the screen incision at the top from the notch screen to the "pill screen" and has added a Dynamic island interactive design.
can support the starting price of iPhone 14 Pro/Max up to 7999 yuan by relying solely on pill screens and excessive animations? Social media doubts are everywhere, but Apple is quite confident about its iPhone 14 series. According to Zhongguancun Online, Apple has asked factories such as , Foxconn and to prepare stock in advance. The new iPhone 14 series has now produced more than 34 million units, which is more than one-third of the original order of 90 million units by the end of this year.
prepared 34 million iPhone 14 series in advance, which is probably the iPhone with the largest inventory in recent years. It can be seen that Apple has a higher target for the iPhone 14 series shipment.
But at the moment when the overall market is down in 2022, it is really a great challenge for the iPhone 14 series to maintain the sales miracle of the previous generation of iPhones.
Huawei competes on the same stage
The day before the release of Apple's iPhone 14 series, Huawei released the Mate 50 series.
As Huawei flagship that has been late for more than two years, the Mate 50 series has no new breakthrough in hardware: the entire series is equipped with 4G version of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor, 6.7-inch OLED screen, 90Hz refresh rate, and 66W wired charging Fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging.
Mate 50 This product can be said to have broken out under various blockades: the chip does not use 5G, so it becomes a "5G mobile phone" by configuring a 5G mobile phone case; the camera and Leica were forced to "break up", and Huawei launched the image Brand XMAGE, forming a self-contained mobile imaging technology; the system was cut off from Android, Mate 50 is equipped with the latest Harmony 3.0, striving to catch up with iOS and Android...
In addition, Mate 50 also supports Beidou satellite message hardware The black technology technologies such as Kunlun glass, magnetic field microcontroller motor, low-voltage emergency mode, hyperspace storage compression technology, etc., make up for the gap in some SoC performance insufficient. In terms of price, the Huawei Mate 50E starts at 3999 yuan, the Mate 50 starts at 4999 yuan, the Mate 50 starts at 6799 yuan, and the Mate 50 Pro starts at 12999 yuan, and the Mate 50 RS starts at 12999 yuan.
Mate 50 series
According to media reports, the Mate 50 series stock volume is 6 million, but due to the influence of 4G mobile phones, sales are expected to be relatively low. The sales of
Mate 50 series have been deprecated, which to some extent truly reflects Huawei's embarrassment after the supply cut.
2019 was Huawei's peak year. The total global shipment of all-brand mobile phones reached 240 million units, with the first domestic market share and the second largest global mobile phone market share. However, in 2020, Huawei failed to reach the high-end market due to chip supply problems. In 2020, the total shipment of Huawei mobile phone was 189 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 21.5%, and the market share was 14.6%.
With the advent of the 5G era, Huawei, as the inventor of 5G, suffered a baseband supply cut and was forced to use 4G chips, which directly affected the shipment of mobile phones. Data from market research firm Omdia shows that in the first and second quarters of 2022, Huawei's mobile phone shipments were 5.6 million units and 6.4 million units respectively, a sharp decline, but other manufacturers failed to fully make up for this market gap. Huawei is expected to be 2022 The annual sales of smartphones are about 30 million units. The birth of the
Mate 50 series can bring a shot of inspiring Huawei's sales.
As one of the few high-end models of domestic mobile phone manufacturers, the market volume of the Mate 50 series is no less than that of the iPhone 14 series. On the day of the press conference, the number of reservations for the Mate 50 series on Huawei's official website exceeded 2.45 million. In just two days, the full pre-sale of the Mate 50 series has been sold out. The limited-purchase of many e-commerce platforms shows that it is out of stock, and even high-end models equipped with Kunlun Glass have been sold out.
Global market is cold
2022 is the most depressing year for the domestic mobile phone market. Not only Huawei has experienced a decline in shipments, but other mobile phone manufacturers have also suffered the same cold wave.
China Academy of Information and Communications Technology released the "Domestic Mobile Phone Market Operation Analysis Report in June 2022" showing that from January to June 2022, the total shipment of mobile phones in the domestic market was 136 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 21.7%; among them, 5G mobile phone shipments were shipped; among them, 5G mobile phones were shipped The volume was 109 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 14.5%, accounting for 80.2% of mobile phone shipments in the same period. There are many leading companies such as Xiaomi , OPPO, vivo, etc., with a year-on-year decline of 20-30%. The shipments of the entire mobile phone market have also reached the worst level in ten years.
shipments have declined. Mobile phone manufacturers have generally used a large number of new phones to stimulate sales, resulting in a total of 201 new models launched by major mobile phone brands from January to June 2022, including 112 5G mobile phones.
The biggest reason for the periodic recession of smartphones is the decline in market demand, rising raw material prices, and rising supply chain costs. The biggest reason for the decline in market demand in
is that the innovation ability of mobile phones has declined. Every time a new phone is released, it is promoting screens, images, and processor chips. Your home is good at taking photos and his home is also good, resulting in intelligence The differentiation of mobile phones is weak, and there can only be "routine upgrades" and it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to perceive.
, and now the mobile phone hardware is too serious, most flagship machines have overperformance, redundant and similar functions, resulting in the average replacement cycle of users exceeding 31 months.
consumer purchasing demand has weakened, causing a large number of mobile phone brands to start "inventory correction" and "adjustment of expectations". The entire smartphone market has entered an era of stock or even reduction.
Mobile parts
On the other hand, the price of raw materials for mobile phone parts caused by the epidemic and the rising supply chain costs are also the main reasons for the sluggish mobile phone market.
The epidemic has had a huge impact on the supply chain of the mobile phone market. A large number of factories have suspended production and delayed delivery, and regional control has led to logistics hinderment.
downstream mobile phone sales terminal outlets are also struggling to survive. In March this year, in order to reduce the impact of the epidemic on offline retail, Xiaomi has begun to provide five subsidies for offline stores, with a cumulative amount of 120 million yuan. But it is just a drop in the bucket. A large number of agents and offline stores of national, provincial, and local contracts have closed stores on a large scale.
At the same time, Samsung , Sony and other companies have always controlled the core components such as screens, memory, mobile phone lenses. is also a long-term lack of technology research and development, which has led to domestic mobile phone brands being constrained by the supply chain.
Taking folding screen as an example, Samsung, as the world's only folding screen giant, occupies more than 80% of the market share of the folding screen category. They will first use the best technology for Samsung mobile phone . Other manufacturers can only wait for next year's product upgrade before they can eat the "leftovers" of the previous year.
At the same time, all the bargaining rights are in the hands of Samsung, and domestic mobile phone brands can only be forced to purchase core components at high prices and premiums.
market needs to change
After all, the current market is still insufficient innovation in domestic mobile phones, which leads to a failure to hit the high-end, and most of the gross profits are earned by Apple.
Statistical Agency SA data report shows that in the Q2 quarter of 2022, Apple's global sales reached 47.5 million units, which was the best sales in the past decade. This record-breaking report card is a very different from the average decline of 20-30% per capita in domestic mobile phone brands.
not only can it sell high-end Apple, but it can't even lower the price.
This year's 618 e-commerce promotion, the total sales of domestic smartphones reached 14 million units, and the top three sales were Apple, Xiaomi and Honor , and Apple's sales accounted for nearly half, about 7 million units; among them, The number one iPhone 13 sales reached 2.82 million units, while the second-ranked Redmi K50 sales reached 340,000 units, a difference of nearly 8 times.
Apple Store
When the iPhone slightly changed the notch screen and made a special effect animation, countless people were excited to shout. How long has it been since domestic mobile phones achieved substantial breakthroughs?
But it is undeniable that Apple and Huawei released new products almost at the same time, which indeed brought enough attention to the mobile phone market. Against the backdrop of the overall decline in the domestic mobile phone market, I wonder if Huawei and Apple can bring some excitement.
