Why Apple, which is widely criticized, can still easily beat Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi

It is well known in the technology circle that Apple's iPhone hardware is updated every two years. In the big year, the appearance is updated, and in the small year, some repairs are made to improve the models launched in the big year. This year is the so-called "digital year" of the iPhone, and it is a year in which the overall design of the iPhone should have changed. However, the iPhone 7, which was launched two months ago, basically continued the design language of the iPhone 6 two years ago, and was regarded by everyone as a lack of ambition and creativity.

Apple's new products are questioned for lack of innovation

Is that actually the case? In fact, it is indeed so. Unlike the first few years after the iPhone came out, when it was praised as "subversive" and "revolutionary", Apple's creativity has been questioned since the iPhone 4S after Steve Jobs passed away. Cook has been accused of "living off the brand's past" for many years.

After Apple's autumn new product launch, criticisms of Apple's new phones have never stopped. The same appearance, the still protruding "boil" camera, and the cancellation of the frequently used headphone jack have all made the public complain about the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. This year, Apple suffered its first decline in both revenue and sales since 2001, and the iPhone 7 was also called "surprisingly stagnant". Almost all media outlets gave the following purchase advice for the iPhone 7: "Only users of iPhone 6 and earlier models are recommended to buy it."

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he is not optimistic about Apple's prospects, and iPhone 7 sales will decline by 5%-20% in the next few months. According to Taiwan's electronic media Digitimes earlier on Friday, Apple has informed its chip suppliers that iPhone 7 chip orders in the first quarter of 2017 may drop by about 20% compared with the previous quarter. In the first quarter of last year, iPhone sales in China soared 112%, but this year it has dropped 33%. The decline in influence in China is also one of the main reasons why people have lost confidence in Apple.

Apple's competitors failed to seize the opportunity

From a normal point of view, Apple's inaction is tantamount to spring for its competitors.

In the high-end smartphone market, only Samsung has been able to compete with Apple in terms of profit margins. Perhaps Samsung "really wanted to win", and its aggressive battery strategy not only failed to successfully block the iPhone 7 with the Galaxy Note7, but the Note7 explosion incident dragged Samsung into the company's biggest crisis in history, and its product quality and public relations mistakes made Samsung questionable.

As for domestic mobile phone manufacturers, Xiaomi launched the concept model Xiaomi MIX, which was widely praised and even surpassed Samsung and Apple in many media rankings. It was also called the "iPhone killer" by many Xiaomi fans. However, with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.3%, Xiaomi MIX paid a huge price in terms of earpiece effect and camera, and the overall design still did not make up for the loss. Xiaomi's attempt is certainly admirable, but it must be said that Xiaomi, which has a poor origin, may find it difficult to impact the high-end market throughout its life.

As a representative of China's top technology and rich financial resources, Huawei is also well-known internationally. When Samsung was involved in the explosion scandal, it was the most likely to become the king of Android phones and compete with iPhone. However, judging from the several new phones released by Huawei this year, it is often very difficult for such manufacturers to change the existing situation.

From several different perspectives, we can say that Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei are all unable to accomplish the mission of blocking Apple, but Apple is by no means at ease either.

The last year for the iPhone to win without a fight?

According to the latest data, Apple's new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have become the best-selling smartphones since they were launched in September. According to statistics, these two new products account for 17.1% of Apple's total mobile phone sales. In the third quarter, Apple has surpassed Samsung and become the top-selling mobile phone brand in the United States, with a market share of 33.1%. From the perspective of market share, the share of iPhone in the smartphone market has been declining year by year. However, as the market share of iPhone has declined, the share of iPhone in the mobile phone market profit has increased year by year, reaching 91% this year, almost monopolizing this huge pie.

So why are the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which we say have lost their innovation and have not undergone any changes for a long time, still able to firmly occupy the top position of high-end smartphones?

It is believed that although the iPhone has not really evolved for a long time, as a benchmark for smartphones, the iPhone has a highly integrated design of hardware and software, a unique user experience, the iCloud (cloud) system that Apple has built over a long period of time, and the user usage habits cultivated by iOS. This has made iPhone users very loyal to Apple's brand and it is difficult for them to switch to other mobile phone brands.

However, this does not mean that this year's iPhone is good enough. On the contrary, from many perspectives, the designs of many Android phones have surpassed the stagnant iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. It is just that the brand loyalty cultivated by Apple over a long period of time has played a role again, resulting in the sales volume of Apple phones still maintaining a high level. The price reduction of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in various channels this year is obviously accelerating compared with previous years, reflecting consumers' negative attitude towards Apple.

It can be said that this year's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus just escaped a disaster by luck, and time is running out for next year's iPhone 8. Who knows, maybe Apple will make a big move with the iPhone 8 and change the world again?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.