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(Note: Gong Zhe is the head of CGTN Digital's science-technology department, this article expresses his own point of view, not that of CGTN.)
The future of the iPhone is in big trouble. Current XS models are not attractive enough to prevent customers from switching to Huawei and Samsung, while the new "XI" models look like a bad copy of the latest-generation Huawei Mate 20.
Apple is lagging behind
The iPhone's market share has been stolen by Huawei and Samsung, according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
The IDC found "a staggering 30.2% drop" in first quarter shipments of the 2019 iPhone compared with the same period last year. And looking at the chart that they provided, you can clearly see that most of the lost stock went to Huawei and Samsung.
According to the IDC, Huawei is today the world's second largest smartphone maker after Samsung, after falling Apple's market share.
Global share of the smartphone market over the last five quarters. / Capture IDC screen
Global share of the smartphone market over the last five quarters. / Capture IDC screen
Why does Apple lose to rivals?
Look around the smartphone market and you will quickly realize that Apple is one of the few brands that still sells a flagship dual camera product.
Additional cameras help users take group shots without taking a step back and take close-up shots without blurring. The lack of third and fourth cameras thus limited the ability of users to capture important moments in their lives.
Apple knows this inconvenience and is trying to catch up. As the latest "iPhone XI" leaks show, Apple will also install at least three cameras on the back of the phone.
But the layout of the cameras is very similar to the Huawei Mate 20, a phone sold for more than six months.
Worse, the American phone giant has positioned the cameras on the top left corner, like the iPhone X, breaking the balance of the design of the phone by focusing too much on this one corner. You can see the drawing that leaked on the top photo.
Many Apple fans are already complaining about this strange design, even though the phone is not yet announced.
It's hard to say if additional cameras can help Apple win the next stage of the smartphone battle because Huawei is immersed in the algorithms of multi-camera phones. The latest Huawei P30 Pro can zoom 50 times and even take a pretty sharp picture of the moon. This is not something that Apple can copy in a day.
Lack of 5G
Copying the features of Huawei is not a solution for Apple, because some advanced technologies are not accessible to him. And 5G is one of them.
Apple can not manufacture a 5G smartphone alone before 2021. The company relied on Qualcomm and Intel to let the iPhones have signal bars.
But Intel has announced plans to exit the signal chip market and Qualcomm is charging Apple pocket money after both companies have settled their deals.
Huawei can also produce 5G signal chips. But the United States is using political pressure to prevent Huawei's coins from entering the country. If Apple installs Huawei 5G chips in iPhones, it is likely that they will be banned in their own territory.
The 5G version of Huawei Mate 20 X is available in Switzerland. / Zing gadget image
The 5G version of Huawei Mate 20 X is available in Switzerland. / Zing gadget image
Accredited Apple analysts such as KGI's Kuo Ming-Chi have denied the possibility of a 5G iPhone in 2019. So, at the beginning of the 5G, Apple will be absent.
What can Apple do?
Apple has long relied on new technologies to give the iPhone a magical and attractive appearance. But the latest phone technology is missing from the US phone maker.
Now the innovation-driven company has finally yielded and joined the price war, reducing iPhone XR prices several times in China to attract less wealthy buyers.
The introduction of a second 5G chip supplier is also on the list. Analysts suspect Samsung to be the next company to help Apple build an iPhone 5G.
While Apple focuses more on content than on hardware, it is also possible that they produce really great videos and games to persuade users to choose a cooler phone.
For China and the United States of Tim Cook. business relations theory, I would say that it will not help much. The bad sales of the iPhone in China clearly come from pricing errors and weak signals, not from better China-US relations. trade relations. The trade problem is still there and is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Apple's "nemesis", Microsoft has become the second billion-dollar enterprise without a functioning smartphone system. The Cupertino company really has to come up with something new to get the users back.
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