iPhone 16 dominates social media in China, but not positively

If Apple is depending exclusively on the iPhone 16 to regain its footing in China, it may need an alternative strategy. Thus far, the initial plan has not been successful. As we reported a few weeks ago, the iPhone has fallen out of the top five smartphones in China for the first time in years.

In the second quarter of 2024, Apple slipped to sixth place, marking a historic moment where domestic brands occupied all five leading positions in the rankings.

The decline in the iPhone’s competitiveness in China is viewed as a significant reason behind Apple’s urgency to launch a successful iPhone as soon as possible. However, the situation has taken a turn, as Apple’s new iPhone launch received criticism in China on Tuesday for lacking artificial intelligence features.

Additionally, the Cupertino company is facing growing competition from Huawei in the world’s largest smartphone market. Apple revealed its highly anticipated, AI-enhanced iPhone 16 on Monday, but the general sentiment is that the upgrades are merely incremental. The challenge is that Apple has yet to secure an AI partner in China to support the iPhone 16.

According to a Reuters report, its AI software, modestly named Apple Intelligence, will not be available in Chinese until next year—a significant disappointment. I can relate to this frustration, as I am based in Europe, where we also won’t have access to Apple Intelligence for the time being.

• Square Enix Porting Beloved RPG to Meta Quest 3: Childhood Nostalgia Lives On
• Xiaomi’s Latest Smartwatch is Incredibly Affordable
• Tim Cook and Jimmy Fallon Discuss Apple Career, iPhone 16 in NYC Stroll
• Redmi Note 14 Pro Specs: Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, AMOLED Display, Large Battery
• T-Mobile May Have Underpaid Thousands of U.S. Employees for Years

On Tuesday, discussions on Chinese social media were dominated by the launch of the iPhone 16, occurring just before Huawei announced its three-way foldable smartphone. On Weibo, China’s equivalent of X, three of the top ten trending topics were related to the iPhone 16, with AI features being a central theme of the discussion.

The hashtag “iPhone 16 Chinese version doesn’t support AI yet” garnered 11.33 million views and over 1,500 comments on Weibo. Users are expressing frustration over the absence of AI features in the iPhone 16 in China and questioning the value of purchasing the device. They also argue that the price should be significantly lower if it does not offer Apple Intelligence—an excellent point, indeed.

Regarding price tags, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will have the same pricing as their predecessors.

Earlier this year, Apple made significant price cuts in China due to government restrictions on foreign-branded phones and increasing competition from domestic brands, which affected its smartphone sales.

On Weibo, some users drew comparisons between Apple’s launch and Huawei’s forthcoming phone, as the Chinese company aims to strengthen its dominance over Apple in its home market. However, this is not the whole story. Apple’s iPhone 16 did not impress investors, as its expected AI features are still in testing phases, while Huawei’s innovative tri-fold phone has heightened competition in the global smartphone arena.

Following the introduction of its new iPhones—which incorporate hardware-level AI but show few external design changes—Apple’s shares fell 1% in premarket trading on Tuesday. The iPhone 16 is set to bring AI capabilities, referred to as Apple Intelligence, designed to enhance Siri and improve the camera. However, these features, including the revamped Siri scheduled for 2025, will be available later, and Apple has not provided a timeline for when they will transition out of beta testing.

Using phrases such as “later this year” and “early next year,” Apple’s main message regarding the iPhone 16 was: Next year will be better.

Last year, Huawei made a comeback in the high-end smartphone market with a device featuring a domestically produced chip, challenging U.S. sanctions that had cut off its access to the global chipset supply chain.

The launch of the Mate 60 Pro caught both analysts and U.S. officials off guard. In addition to this, Huawei already has two-way foldable phones in its product range, and robust sales in China have enabled the company to surpass Samsung Electronics this year, making it the world’s leading vendor of foldable smartphones. The tri-folding Huawei “monster phone” is also receiving considerable attention in its home country.

• Huawei has already garnered more than 2.8 million reservations for the Mate XT tri-fold.