In the past few days, mobile phone manufacturers have announced the launch of mobile phone discount promotions during the 618 period. The opening ads of shopping apps such as Taobao and Jingdong are full of iPhone price reduction promotions, and some models are even thousands of yuan cheaper.
In the face of the overall decline in smartphone sales, Apple, which has always been arrogant, can only increase sales or maintain a certain market share by cutting prices. However, behind the price cuts of manufacturers is the gradual decline in users' interest in replacing mobile phones.
This year's 618 event may make the iPhone 14 the number one selling item, although the entry-level version of the iPhone 14 has received some negative reviews online, such as low configuration, poor signal and so on. But as long as Apple cuts prices slightly, the iPhone 14 has the potential to become the sales champion of multiple e-commerce platforms.
In addition to Apple's active price reduction, domestic mobile phones are not weak. Some phones have already cut prices by 31.9%. For example, the price of Xiaomi 12S Pro (8+128GB) dropped from 4699 yuan to 3199 yuan.
It should be noted that during the 618 period, in addition to buying discounted models in major brand flagship stores, third-party flagship stores are likely to launch ultra-low-priced mobile phones.
Huawei also launched a big promotion at this year's 618, and the P60 series has become Huawei's flagship mobile phone with the fastest price reduction in recent years. The price of the Huawei P60 Art version dropped by thousands of yuan, which made many first-time users feel betrayed. Huawei P60 Pro has also significantly reduced its price, adding a 12GB+256GB version priced at 6488 yuan.
Overall, smartphone sales have declined, making mobile phone manufacturers panic. According to data released by International Data Corporation (IDC), smartphone shipments in China in the first quarter of 2023 were about 65.44 million units, down 11.8% year-on-year.
The reason why mobile phone manufacturers have gone crazy to cut prices is to clear inventory. Companies usually plan ahead based on the previous year's market conditions, but if the market changes and shipments are lower than expected, it can cause mobile phone manufacturers to accumulate large inventories.
Global markets are performing even worse. According to the market data survey report, the global smartphone market shipped 280.2 million units in the first quarter of 2023, down 14% year-on-year. Shipments of all mobile phone brands declined, with Xiaomi seeing the largest decline, down 22% year-on-year.
This year's competition is extremely fierce, and mobile phone manufacturers began fierce competition at the beginning of this year. For example, OPPO's sub-brand OnePlus abandoned the long-standing "not going to settle" concept and continuously improved the cost performance, and the market responded well to it. In the face of the general decline of the entire mobile phone market, OnePlus still maintained a contrarian growth, and sales in 2023 increased by 260% year-on-year, helping OPPO regain its first position in the Chinese market.
Therefore, the major manufacturers are promoting wildly during the 618 period, so as not to be surpassed by competitors. Coupled with the overall sluggish sales of the mobile phone market in the past two years, mobile phone manufacturers hope to sell as many mobile phones as possible at this time.
The question of why young people don't change their mobile phones is often a hot search topic. What we should think about is, why blame this problem only on users, rather than mobile phone manufacturers looking for their own reasons?
According to the 2021 market research agency report, the average replacement cycle of Chinese mobile phone users is 28 months, and in 2022, the replacement cycle of smartphones reached an all-time high of 43 months. This is because mobile phones lack innovation and are not very attractive to users.
However, the downturn in the mobile phone market has not stopped mobile phone manufacturers from raising prices. According to Couterpoint, the average global smartphone sold for $272 in 2018, compared to $308 in 2021.
The homogenization of mobile phones and the lack of innovation are one of the reasons for poor sales. In recent years, there have not been many major innovations in the mobile phone market. For example, the mobile phone photo function popularized in previous years, many users find that they usually use it almost a few times.
In terms of configuration, there are almost no differences between major mobile phone manufacturers, the processor is the brain of the mobile phone, but at present, each company has adopted the Snapdragon processor; When it comes to photography, Sony sensors are a common choice; In terms of screen, the products of Samsung, BOE, Tianma, Huaxing Optoelectronics and other suppliers are used.
Finally, I would like to ask everyone, is the mobile phone you are using now satisfactory to you? What are your needs for your next phone? Everyone is welcome to leave comments.