Author | Yicai Zheng Xantong Lu Qian
In the early morning of September 13, Beijing time, Apple held a conference called "Wonderlust" to launch the iPhone 15 series of new products. The biggest change in the appearance of the new machine is that the whole series is equipped with "Spirit Island", farewell to "Liu Haiping", and the charging interface is switched from Lightning to USB-C.
In terms of price, the iPhone 15 starts at 5999 yuan; iPhone 15 Plus starts at 6999 yuan; iPhone 15 Pro starts at 7999 yuan; The iPhone 15 Pro Max costs 9999 yuan. It is worth noting that following the iPhone 13 "increase without price increase", Apple turned to the price increase route, iPhone 14 Pro part of the memory version has increased the price compared with the previous generation, this time the iPhone 15 series continues to step the price increase.
The iPhone 15 will set the pre-order date for September 15 and the release date for September 22, which may coincide with new machines such as Huawei Mate 60 Pro. Huawei Mate 60 Pro recently put on sale, Mate 60 Pro + and X5 open pre-sale, the first financial reporter learned from a number of Shenzhen Huawei stores, Mate 60 Pro quickly out of stock, several new machines to be booked, the specific configuration is still to be announced at the press conference, the conference or scheduled from September 15 to the end of September. Consumers need to choose between two high-end machine brands.
It is worth noting that Apple fell as much as 2.5% intraday, and finally closed down 1.71%, with a total market value of less than $2.8 trillion.
Say goodbye to the Lightning charging interface
Price increases, chip iterations, charging interfaces and appearance changes are the main changes in the iPhone 15 series. Compared with the iPhone 14 series, the iPhone 15 series has increased in price. iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro starting price is the same as the previous generation, but the 256GB memory version is 100 yuan higher than the previous generation, 512GB memory is 300 yuan higher than the previous generation, and the iPhone 15 Pro 1TB memory is 500 yuan higher than the previous generation. iPhone 15 Pro Max canceled 128GB memory, and other memory versions increased by 100~500 yuan compared with the previous generation.
Since iPhone 14, Apple has no longer launched the small-screen mini series, and added iPhone Plus, which is positioned higher than the iPhone and lower than the iPhone pro, and the high-end has moved up as a whole.
The improvement of iPhone 15 configuration compared with the previous generation is mainly reflected in the chip. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are powered by the A16 chip and use the 4-nanometer process. The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max feature the new A17 Pro chip and use the 3-nanometer process. According to reports, the A17 Pro graphics processor is up to 70% faster than the iPhone 12 Pro, and compared with the A16, it has up to 4 times the ray tracing speed, up to 20% faster graphics processor speed and up to 2 times the neural network engine speed. Given the chip iteration, Apple's press conference focused on game performance, showcasing games such as The Division Dawn. In addition, the iPhone series has enhanced the lens group, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max is equipped with a 5x telephoto lens with an approximate periscope design.
In addition, the difference between the iPhone 15 and the previous generation is mainly in design and appearance. The iPhone 15 series is equipped with "Spirit Island" and no longer uses "Liu Haiping". iPhone 15 Pro uses titanium alloy design, reduces the weight of the fuselage, and unmutes the button and changes it to the Action button. Another big change is that the iPhone eliminated the Lightning charging interface used for nearly 10 years, and the iPhone 15 series was changed to the USB-C interface that is currently widely used. However, the USB-C power adapter marked on the official website of the iPhone 15 is still 20W, which is not much different from the iPhone 14, and can be charged to 50% in 30 minutes.
"Although the iPhone 15 series has many 'first' improvements, as Android manufacturers increase investment in flagship products, the iPhone 15 series will face greater adjustments, which is very likely to change the situation that Apple has ridden in the Chinese high-end mobile phone market (unit price of more than $600) in the past few years." IDC China senior analyst Guo Tianxiang told reporters that the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus were upgraded to 48 million pixel photography, and the 15 Pro Max exclusive periscope telephoto lens, compared to Android's flagship mobile phone camera mostly more than 50 million pixels, periscope lenses are also sent to the mid-range product line. However, Apple's advantages in software and hardware collaboration and algorithm tuning are still worth looking forward to.
Battle with Huawei's new aircraft
The release of the iPhone 15 series meets the release of Huawei's new machine, and who wins and loses in the high-end market is the biggest attraction in the recent mobile phone market.
On August 29, Huawei released Mate 60 Pro, followed by pre-sale of Mate 60 Pro+ and folding screen X5, Huawei mobile phones have a gradual return. Thereinto. Mate 60 Pro is priced from 6499 yuan, plus the Mate 60 Pro and X5 that have not yet announced mobile phones, Huawei's new machine price segment is likely to coincide with the iPhone 15 in a large area. After Huawei's sale or pre-sale of new machines, Huawei's related concept stocks in the A-share market began to "rise and stop".
The first financial reporter previously learned that some Huawei supply chain companies have felt the market recovery, and expect Huawei's shipments to continue to improve and boost the market. Semiconductor information platform TechInsights predicts that Huawei's overall smartphone shipments this year are expected to reach 35 million units, a year-on-year increase of 36%, and by the end of 2023, Mate 60 Pro shipments in China are expected to exceed 1 million.
While Huawei's related concept stocks set off a wave of ups and downs, Apple's stock price fluctuated and fell, and from September 1 ~ September 12, Apple's stock price fell by 6.16%. On the day of Apple's conference, on September 12, local time, Apple's stock price fell 1.71%, closing at $176.3 per share.
On September 12, the first financial reporter visited a number of mobile phone stores in Shenzhen and saw that even if Huawei's new machine has not yet announced the complete configuration, Huawei mobile phone stores still have consumers looking at Huawei's new machine and asking about the arrival time, and many Huawei stores have booked hundreds of new machines. In a shopping mall, Huawei, which has pre-sold new machines, and Apple, which is still waiting for the iPhone conference, contrasts the bustle and coldness of the two opposite stores.
The first financial reporter recently visited the Apple store in Beijing Central Asian, and the clerk introduced that the new Huawei Mate 60 series products have not had a significant impact on store sales, and Apple ecological users will not easily replace them with Android system mobile phones. Before the release of Apple's new machine, many consumers went to buy the iPhone 14 because the price of the old machine may be reduced and the price of the new machine may increase.
After the iPhone 15 conference, Apple and Huawei will form a "head-to-head showdown", and the high-end mobile phone market will face a round of adjustment. After Huawei's previous shipment decline, Apple became the biggest winner in the high-end mobile phone market. IDC data shows that in the first half of this year, in China's mobile phone market of more than $600, Apple's market share reached 67%, and Huawei's market share was 15.6%. Couterpoint data shows that in the second quarter of 2023, Apple led in global smartphone revenue and operating profit with a share of 45% and 85%, respectively, the highest quarterly record, despite a year-on-year decline in global smartphone revenue.
However, the iPhone is also under market pressure. According to IDC data, the average price of Apple's products increased significantly from the fourth quarter of last year, exceeding $1,000, an increase of 12% month-on-month, but the sluggish domestic mobile phone market and weak consumer demand forced Apple to start price promotions in March this year, and the overall average price fell to $971 in the second quarter of this year. The price of iPhone 15 in addition to the starting storage specifications continues to increase, it is expected that the initial production capacity on the market will affect the lack of supply, the market price is difficult to have a discount, affected by the market environment, if the series of sales are lower than expected, Apple may also reduce the price promotion.
Tianfeng International analyst Guo Mingxi previously said on social platforms that if Apple maintains iPhone orders in the second half of next year, iPhone shipments are expected to reach 220 million to 225 million units in 2023, surpassing Samsung to become the largest smartphone brand.