Apple’s iPhone 13 may not have many new features but its lower price tag could shake China’s mobile market
- Analysts said that the cheaper iPhones will be another blow for Huawei, which has struggled under the weight of US trade sanctions
- Reaction was mixed, with some netizens marvelling at the cheaper price tag while others dismissed the latest iPhone iteration as the weakest ever
Apple’s cheaper iPhone 13 series will likely take further market share away from domestic tech giant Huawei Technologies Co and other local brands despite it being the weakest upgrade ever of the iconic handset, analysts said.
The Cupertino-based tech company on Tuesday launched a new line of iPhones – the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max – at a media event dubbed California Streaming. Although the new iPhones came with few surprises, the lower price tag has raised eyebrows in China, the world’s second-largest economy.
Pricing for the new models in China starts at 5,199 yuan (US$807) for the iPhone 13 Mini, 5,999 yuan (US$931) for the iPhone 13 and 7,999 yuan (US$1,241) for the iPhone 13 Pro, about 300 to 800 yuan cheaper than the corresponding iPhone 12s, depending on the exact model.
Analysts said that the cheaper iPhones will be another blow for Huawei, which has struggled under the weight of US trade sanctions that have cut off its access to high-end chips. Without naming Huawei, Wang Xi, a manager at industry research firm IDC in China, wrote in a report that iPhones “will have an even clearer advantage in the premium smartphone market with the iPhone 13’s approach to pricing, displays and storage”.
The latest iPhone pricing came as a surprise to many industry watchers as industry-leading chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) recently increased its prices. Moreover, smartphones with more storage and higher capacity, typically come with a higher price tag in China.
