The long-awaited iPhone 12 has finally been unveiled. In the early morning of October 14, Apple CEO Cook officially released the first generation of 5G mobile phones in Apple's history. Compared with previous models, this year's iPhone not only goes against the trend and returns to a smaller size, but also has no significant price reduction. However, Cook still appears confident: "Today marks a new era for the iPhone. This is an epoch-making and exciting moment for all of us."
But the market does not seem to agree. The day before the press conference, Apple's stock price closed up 6.35%, the largest increase since July 31. After the press conference, its closing price fell 2.65% to $121.1, and its market value evaporated by $56.5 billion (about 381.1 billion yuan) compared with the previous day. It is worth noting that this may be the last autumn press conference hosted by Cook. By August 2021, he will usher in the end of his ten-year term as Apple CEO.
An unprecedented mini
In previous autumn conferences, Apple would release three new iPhone products, but this year is different. The new generation of iPhone series has a total of four products, namely iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, with sizes of 5.4 inches, 6.1 inches, 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches respectively.
It can be seen that Apple has gone against the routine and added a mini iPhone. Since the birth of the Apple mobile phone, the size of the iPhone has been getting bigger and bigger.
Beijing Business Daily interviewed Apple about the reason for its unusual return to the mini, but the company had not responded as of press time.
"Apple always leads the naming rules of mobile phones. No matter what, it is estimated that a large number of mobile phones will be called mini in the future." Communications expert Ma Jihua said bluntly. Major General Ding, an industrial and economic observer, believed that there was news that it was expected, but the small size is becoming "niche". From the release link, the mini is also mainly regarded as a derivative of the standard version.
In terms of design, the new generation of iPhones has few highlights. In addition to supporting 5G and being equipped with the A14 Bionic chip, there are some improvements in camera technology. The iPhone 12 Pro is equipped with a 13mm ultra-wide-angle lens to a 52mm portrait lens, with a total of three cameras for a four-fold optical zoom; the iPhone 12 Pro Max uses a 13mm ultra-wide-angle lens to a 65mm portrait lens for a 5x optical zoom.
Compared with other mobile phone brands, Apple's triple or even dual cameras are actually a bit behind at the moment. In the second quarter of 2019, Huawei entered the rear quad-camera market, and then mobile phone brands such as OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi joined the rear quad-camera camp, driving the market share of rear quad-cameras in the Chinese smartphone market to continue to increase. According to CINNO Research data, rear quad-cameras accounted for 41% of the Chinese smartphone market in the second quarter of 2020.
In terms of price, the iPhone 12 mini in China starts at 5,499 yuan (64GB), the iPhone 12 in China starts at 6,299 yuan (64GB), the iPhone 12 Pro in China starts at 8,499 yuan (128GB), and the iPhone 12 Pro Max in China starts at 9,299 yuan (128GB).
This pricing standard seems quite contradictory. For 5,499 yuan, you can only buy a 64GB version of the mini iPhone, which is not enough for young users. But last year, 5,499 yuan could buy a normal-sized iPhone 11. It seems that the price has been increased, but the starting prices of iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max have been lower than last year.
Last year, the starting prices of iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max were US$699 (official website price starting at RMB 5,499), US$999 (official website price starting at RMB 8,699), and US$1,099 (official website price starting at RMB 9,599). The starting prices of the three models in the previous year were RMB 6,499, RMB 8,699 and RMB 9,599 respectively.
Interestingly, Apple has removed the power adapter and earphones included in the iPhone product packaging, under the pretext of "further reducing carbon emissions and avoiding mining and the use of precious raw materials." However, this move has sparked collective complaints from netizens, because this may not be a problem for old Apple fans, but new users will have to pay extra to purchase them separately, which directly increases the cost of purchasing the phone.
The long-awaited 5G
At the September autumn conference, the iPhone was delayed as expected, and consumers who were looking forward to it had to wait for another month. However, based on the parameters disclosed at the conference, Major General Ding pointed out that the iPhone 12 did not even get rid of the "big bangs", so whether it is for old users or early adopters, turning "expectations" into "purchases" requires further consideration.
On August 5 last year, ZTE AXON 10 Pro (5G version) was launched in China. It was the first 5G new phone officially launched in China. Since then, Huawei Mate 20X 5G version, vivo IQOO Pro 5G version and other products have been launched one after another. As of now, there are dozens of 5G mobile phones on the market.
Therefore, in the current smartphone market, 5G mobile phones are no longer a "rare thing". All major mainstream brands have released them, and almost all price ranges are covered, ranging from folding 5G mobile phones priced at 16,999 yuan to cheap 5G mobile phones priced at 998 yuan.
According to a report released by Counterpoint, in the second quarter of 2020, due to the increase in 5G mobile phone shipments, accounting for 10% of the global smartphone shipments, the average selling price (ASP) of the global smartphone market increased by 10%. According to data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the domestic market shipments of 5G mobile phones in September 2020 reached 13.99 million units, accounting for 60% for four consecutive months.
In such a market context, how much chance does iPhone 12 have? "Apple's 5G has no highlights and no breakthrough innovations. It can only connect to the 5G network. This is enough to prove that Apple is already behind," said Ma Jihua.
In the opinion of Major General Ding, overall, the iPhone 12 may face a "low opening" situation after its release. After all, compared with last year's iPhone 11 series, the iPhone 12 is objectively affected by the epidemic. "Although Apple's 5G mobile phone is relatively slow, the 5G network coverage and applications are not perfect. It will not have a big impact on Apple's sales, but the impact on the brand will be greater."
Unpredictable pattern
2020 has been a difficult year for all mobile phone brands. Not to mention overseas where the epidemic is still serious, taking China, where economic life has basically returned to normal, as an example, the mobile phone market is still in a relatively sluggish trend. Data shows that in September 2020, the total shipments of the domestic mobile phone market were 23.334 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 35.6%; from January to September, the total shipments of the domestic mobile phone market totaled 226 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 21.5%.
Looking at the world, Samsung, Huawei and Apple dominate the smartphone market. According to a report released by market research firm IDC, global smartphone shipments fell 16% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020. Huawei shipped 55.8 million units in the second quarter of this year, surpassing Samsung (54.2 million units) and topping the global smartphone shipment list with a market share of 20%; Samsung ranked second with a market share of 19.5%, and Apple's market share was 13.5%.
But the current situation is that due to the suppression of the US government, Huawei is in a dilemma of "chip shortage". After being unable to produce chips such as Kirin, Huawei's mobile phone business will face major challenges.
Whether the smartphone market will undergo major changes in the future is also a focus of market attention. "Due to the suppression of the US government, competition in the smartphone market is no longer normal. Apple is actually like a protected greenhouse flower. This helps to stabilize the market in the short term, but in the long run, it will cause Apple to fall down once it leaves the greenhouse," said Ma Jihua.
"Since the beginning of this year, Android products have also performed impressively in terms of frequency of new product launches and product capabilities. In addition, the iPhone has experienced a short-term 'delay'. It will not be easy to 'go high' for a period of time." Regarding the future development of the above three companies, Major General Ding predicted that Samsung's comprehensive advantages in the industrial chain and global brand capabilities are very strong, and it will be difficult for it to have a rival when Huawei is subject to sanctions and supply cuts; Apple has a large number of global fans with great stickiness. Although its innovation has a weakening trend, its basic foundation is solid, and its closed ecosystem and high brand premium will still allow it to make a lot of money; due to the impact of the supply cut, the direction of Huawei's mobile phone business is currently unclear and needs further observation.
According to foreign media reports, Abraham Liu, vice president of Huawei Europe, said that the company is confident that it will continue to serve European customers in the 5G field, because Huawei has made a lot of preparations and initial investments in 5G networks. As for individual customers and mobile phone users, Huawei is still looking for solutions. "We see great difficulties. Huawei has 90 million users in Europe, and Google no longer releases updates for Huawei phones using the Android operating system."
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