Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The iPhone 15 series, which was launched last September, seems unable to boost Apple’s smartphone business. There are several factors that trigger it, for example the global cellphone market which is still sluggish due to uncertain macroeconomic conditions.
Apart from that, geopolitical tensions between the United States (US) and China also contributed to the lack of interest in the iPhone 15. Ahead of the launch of the flagship series, the issue of China blocking the iPhone in government circles emerged, although this was later denied.
Furthermore, Chinese manufacturer Huawei suddenly made a comeback with the mysterious Mate 60 Pro cellphone which sparked controversy because it was accused of violating US trade sanctions. This cellphone was warmly welcomed by Chinese citizens.
This has caused Chinese citizens’ enthusiasm for the iPhone 15 to decline. In fact, China is the largest cellphone market in the world and an important market for Apple’s business.
So far, Apple has always held the first position as the manufacturer with the best-selling cellphone sales in China. However, this position was lost by local manufacturers, due to negative sentiment towards the US.
Sales of the iPhone 15 in China during its launch month decreased by 6% compared to the iPhone 14 released last year in the same period.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley said they were still monitoring Apple’s performance at the end of the 2023 quarter. They also cut their expectations for iPhone sales at the end of the year by 8%.
The Jefferies Analyst Team shows that iPhone sales growth has decreased significantly to double digits.
Chinese Citizens Blaspheme iPhone 15
In the midst of sluggish interest among Chinese citizens in the iPhone 15, there are many netizen comments criticizing the series on the Bamboo Curtain Country’s social media, quoted from BusinessInsider, Wednesday (1/11/2023).
Discussions about the iPhone 15 went viral on Chinese social media, Weibo. More than 100 million views were gathered on iPhone 15 related posts.
Criticism of the iPhone 15 centers on its price which is considered expensive, when the features offered do not show a significant improvement compared to rival manufacturers.
Apart from that, many people also highlighted the emergence of the iPhone 15 which destroyed local product competition, for example the Huawei Mate 60 which was released a few weeks earlier.
“This is not about Huawei being superior, but Apple being inferior. Are you willing to replace the iPhone 15 just to get USB-C?” said a netizen on Weibo.
“Apart from Apple’s software, everything is bad on the iPhone 15. The price is much higher. Now Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo are no less good, even better than Apple,” said another netizen.
“My 5 year old Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro cellphone still functions well. When I leave the house, I don’t need to bring a power bank. Is that possible on an Apple cellphone?” other netizens chimed in.
“There are no significant changes from iPhone 13 to iPhone 15”.
“The camera upgrade is very minimal. The battery still has a small capacity. There’s no point in upgrading,” someone else continued.
“iPhones are too expensive. Apple collects huge profits. Buying an iPhone is the same as giving America money,” said one netizen.
Apple representatives did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation regarding complaints from Chinese citizens regarding the iPhone 15.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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