Fast-moving Chinese rivals hope to gain in wealthy markets as Apple devices slow

Slowing innovation at iPhone maker Apple gives Asian rivals their best chance yet to conquer developed markets, retailers and consumers say - thanks to better designs and lower prices.

Apple last week unveiled new iPhones with wireless charging, an edge-to-edge screen and dual cameras - all features already widely available in phones from China’s Huawei and Oppo, and Samsung Electronics.

While Apple must convince buyers to fork out nearly $1,000 for its high-end model, challengers are tilting at the luxury market, offering similar features for less money.

Chinese vendors, formerly seen as churning out cheap phones with copycat innovation, have upped their quality game and now control nearly half the global mobile market. By cramming high-end features into affordable devices, and using a canny mix of promotion, advertising and retail reach, they have also won over some loyal Apple users.

“Huawei is seen as a relevant competitor to Apple and Samsung (by) covering all major price points and placing big investments in marketing and sales,” said a spokeswoman for MediaMarktSaturn, Europe’s biggest electronics retailer.

She said Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and TCL - all Chinese firms - were among the top-10 best-selling smartphones in its stores.

Chinese manufacturers’ rapid growth has been fueled by strong domestic sales, but they now export 40 percent of their smartphones, almost double the number just three years ago, according to CLSA.


Huawei, whose smartphone shipments to Europe jumped more than 50 percent in the first half of this year, is poised to overtake Apple as the world’s second-largest vendor.

The Chinese firm’s confidence was on show in a short Facebook video ad ahead of its “RealAIphone” launch next month, using a clown to poke fun at Apple’s facial recognition feature that unlocks the new iPhone.

Huawei plans to unveil its top-of-the-line Mate 10 phone on Oct. 16, with artificial intelligence-powered features such as instant translation and image recognition. And media reports speculate the phone will have an edge-to-edge screen, and undercut the iPhone on price. Huawei declined to comment.

Source: Reuters