Finally betting on dual SIM cards and dual standby, is iPhone taking the wrong path?

Before we know it, iPhone X has been released for nearly a year. The next generation of iPhone will be released again on September 13th, Beijing time. As the release date approaches, there are more and more rumors about the new iPhone. Among them, the release of the dual-SIM dual-standby version is the most eye-catching. According to the news from the three major domestic operators, the new iPhone released this year will have dual-SIM dual-standby full network access function. In other words, after insisting on making only single-SIM phones for many years, Apple finally bowed to reality. At this time, Apple's competitors have already fully popularized the dual-SIM dual-standby function, and it is difficult to find a mobile phone on the market that is not dual-SIM dual-standby.

Why did Apple release a dual-SIM dual-standby phone? The answer is obvious. Although China continues to promote the process of "speeding up and reducing fees", operators including China Telecom and China Unicom have also launched various types of low-cost Internet and even 100% data packages. However, due to the delay in promoting "number portability" in China, Chinese consumers cannot keep their old numbers and switch to cheaper mobile phone packages from different operators like in other countries and regions.

In order to maintain their own profits, operators who have an absolute advantage in the competition are often unwilling to participate in price wars, and the package charges are also maintained at a relatively high level. In order to enjoy lower mobile Internet charges, dual-SIM dual-standby mobile phones came into being. The lower-priced mobile phone card is used as the main Internet card, and the more expensive old number is used as the secondary card. Consumers can enjoy the benefits of "speed increase and fee reduction" while retaining the original number. It is precisely because of this that in just a few years, various low-priced traffic cards including "Tencent King Card" have gained hundreds of millions of new users, driving the full popularization of "speed increase and fee reduction".

Unfortunately, the dual-SIM dual-standby function, which is already a standard feature of Android phones, has not yet appeared on Apple phones. Although for many years, various news reports have often reported that Apple will release a dual-SIM dual-standby iPhone. However, after several years, Apple phones have only supported the single-SIM function. Not only that, the Apple phone packages launched by operators have also maintained a relatively high rate level. Compared with the low-priced Internet packages, the price of Apple phone packages is not cheap. Many consumers who are sensitive to rates have to give up Apple phones and choose Android phones that are cheaper and more functional. The market share of Apple phones is also constantly being squeezed by Android.

Now the question is, even if the iPhone really supports dual SIM cards, how many consumers can Apple attract? We know that compared with Android phones, Apple phones are often more expensive. The price of iPhone phones that support dual SIM cards is naturally not cheap. A considerable number of consumers who choose dual SIM cards are extremely sensitive to price. Although the dual SIM card dual standby mobile phone released by Apple can realize two cards online at the same time, the relatively high price obviously cannot attract price-sensitive consumer groups.

On the other hand, even for high-end people who use one account for work and another for life, many have long been accustomed to the user interface of Android phones. Although this group of people is not short of money, it is not easy to change their usage habits. To make matters worse, dual SIM dual standby also further increases the power consumption of mobile phones. Today, when Android phones generally have large batteries and fast charging, Apple phones are still stuck in the state of small batteries and 5V1A low-speed charging. Since high-end people have extremely high requirements for mobile phone power, battery life, and charging speed, the charging speed of 5V1A is obviously not enough to meet the requirements of this group of people. It is not difficult to see that even if Apple launches an iPhone with dual SIM dual standby function, it is probably a big question mark how many consumers it can attract.

In this way, Apple's decision to finally go for dual SIM dual standby after years of hesitation is more like a compromise to the Chinese market. The relatively high price and the unsatisfactory user experience will become the key factors hindering iPhone sales. We may as well wait and see how many consumers Apple can attract with dual SIM dual standby phones.