On January 3, the foreign media "Wall Street Journal" reported that according to the latest data from market research agency Counterpoint Research, Apple's market share in China in November 2021 was as high as 23.6%, and it reached the top of China's mobile phone sales champion for two consecutive months (October and November) !
This is really unexpected by many people, after all, since 2015, Apple has appeared in the Chinese market "five years of continuous decline" situation, and now Apple has surpassed domestic mobile phone manufacturers in one fell swoop, which can be said to have fought a beautiful turnaround battle.
Why has Apple been able to grow so much in the Chinese market? The author believes that there are three main reasons.
The success of the iPhone 13
The upgrade brought by the iPhone 13 series this year is still relatively obvious. Equipped with the universe's strongest A15 processor, the front bangs area has been reduced by 20%, the battery life and imaging system have been greatly upgraded, and the Pro series has added a 120Hz high-brush screen...
Of course, the most important thing is the price. In the case of comprehensive improvement in configuration, the iPhone 13 of the same specification is also several hundred yuan cheaper than the iPhone 12, and the proper "increase in quantity and price reduction" series has also become the key reason for its capture of the "heart" of hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers.
A boost to the shopping festival
In November this year, the iPhone was able to continue to lead the Chinese market, also thanks to the "Double 11" shopping festival promotion.
You know, every time the double eleven promotion, many domestic consumers will not be able to resist the desire to change the new machine. During this year's Double Eleven period, iPhone 13, iPhone 12, iPhone XR and other models have been competed by major e-commerce platforms to enter the camp of preferential activities in key promotions, which has greatly stimulated the domestic shipments of iPhones.
The defeat of competitors
In addition to its own product strength, Apple's ability to reverse the decline in performance in the Chinese market has a lot to do with changes in the market competition pattern.
Although the domestic mobile phone market is becoming more and more fierce, the mobile phone manufacturers who can really compete with Apple in the high-end market are mainly Huawei and Samsung.
However, due to well-known reasons, Huawei's mobile phone business has been hit hard as never before in the past two years. The Mate 50 series, which was supposed to debut last fall, has not been released so far, and even the new machines released in 2020 are in a serious state of shortage. In this situation, more and more domestic consumers have turned to Apple mobile phones.
Coincidentally, Apple's other fierce rival, Samsung, has also suffered a lot of setbacks in the Chinese market.
Affected by the Samsung Note 7 explosion door and THAAD incident, Samsung's high-end S series and Note series have been cold in the Chinese market, and the market share has fallen below 1%.
Not only that, in the past two years, Samsung has followed Apple's example of canceling the standard charger, which has invisibly reduced the core competitiveness of Samsung mobile phones, forcing many consumers to turn to the arms of other mobile phone manufacturers.
Although Apple also canceled the charger, there will still be a large number of users in China who choose the iPhone. The reason is very simple, Apple's brand image in the hearts of Chinese consumers has long been deeply rooted, and thanks to the influence of the product, The country has formed a perfect peripheral supporting system.
Taking the magnetic charging function of the iPhone 13 as an example, last year Apple opened a new MFM certification method for magnetic charging, and the leading domestic digital brand Greenlink successfully obtained MFM authorization, and launched its first magnetic wireless charging set that passed Apple's official certification, with built-in Apple's same magnetic core and original charging module, using upgraded nylon braided wire, supporting 15W wireless fast charging. Users only need to spend half the price of Apple's original product package to enjoy a freer and more convenient charging experience.
Although the overall strength of the Samsung S21 series is also very good, its brand influence and industrial chain foundation in China are far inferior to Apple after all, and the cancellation of the charger will naturally further widen the gap between the two sides.
As for other domestic manufacturers, although domestic mobile phones have been trying to impact the high-end market in recent years, there is still a certain gap between Android and iOS systems. And because the price of domestic flagship machines shows an upward trend, most consumers will still tend to choose Apple mobile phones with relatively stable prices and better value retention.
All in all, apple can now grow against the trend in the Chinese market, both because of its own strength and because of various external opportunities. However, with the rise of domestic mobile phones and the continuous intensification of market competition, the entire mobile phone market is still full of unknowns. Can Apple continue to dominate the Chinese market next? And who can shake Apple's position? We'll have to wait and see.
Are you thinking about changing your phone this year? Which brand do you prefer?