Author: Li Na
Although the appearance of the mobile phone is questioned using almost the same production line "mold" as the previous generation, this does not affect Apple's attention.
On September 9, news related to Apple’s iPhone 14 still dominated the hot search list, and satellite communications, 4-nanometer chips, and the UI design of “Smart Island” were hotly discussed.
From the price point of view, although there is no mini version, the range from 5999 yuan to 8999 yuan still covers the current mainstream high-end market in China, which also brings more pressure to the current domestic mobile phones to enter the market.
During the two years that Huawei was "absent", domestic mobile phones did not hesitate to invest in "smashing" research and development, but from the results, they still could not shake Apple's position in the high-end market.
With the arrival of the mobile phone sales season, what cards do domestic mobile phones still have, and do they still have the strength to "overtake"?
These will become the next important aspect of the smartphone market.
Hardware alone cannot "break" the high-end market
Since a year ago, Apple's "dimension reduction" attack on iPhone 13 pricing has made it successful in the Chinese market.
According to Counterpoint data, in October 2021, Apple's iPhone sales in the Chinese market increased by 46% month-on-month, taking 22% of the market share.
In the first half of this year, Apple's share of the domestic high-end market continued to grow.
Guo Tianxiang, a senior analyst at IDC China, told the First Financial Reporter that in the first half of 2022, Apple has occupied 70.5% of the domestic high-end market of more than $600.
After reviewing the style of play in the past year, the heads of several mobile phone manufacturers also told reporters that although hardware innovation is the most intuitive part of mobile phone innovation, hardware innovation alone is not enough to pry open the high-end market in the current environment. .
Taking the main camera pixels of mobile phones as an example, IDC data shows that as of the second quarter of 2022, the share of products with main camera pixels exceeding 48 million pixels in the Chinese smartphone market has reached 59%, and the share of mobile phones with 13-14 million pixels is also 26%.
Among Android brands, high-end flagship and mid-range product lines generally use 48-megapixel main cameras and above, and low-end models also mainly use 13-megapixel main cameras.
However, the 12-megapixel main camera that Apple started with the iPhone 6s has continued to this day, even the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which starts at nearly 10,000 yuan.
The screen is also the main battlefield for domestic mobile phone innovation.
At present, domestic leading manufacturers have released folding screen mobile phone products, and the price has fallen below the 10,000 yuan level.
Judging from the layout nodes of major mobile phone manufacturers, the research and development investment in the field of folding screens has been extended to a three-year or even four-year cycle.
In contrast, Apple is currently the only one of the world's top five manufacturers that is absent from the folding screen market.
Guo Tianxiang said that the continuous investment of top Android manufacturers in high-end flagship models, whether it is self-developed chips, folding screens, or images, has shown initial results, product competitiveness has been continuously improved, and market share has begun to rebound to 30.5%.
However, from the perspective of brand pull and the comprehensive strength of products, Apple is still in the leading position.
"Since the second quarter, the flagship products of domestic Android manufacturers have gradually been recognized by some consumers, but it still takes more time to accumulate."
"Staking" software
What's next for the smartphone market?
The satellite communication technology carried by Huawei and Apple may become the standard for domestic mobile phones in the future.
It is reported that the Android 14 developer preview is expected to launch in March next year.
This means that all future Android phones equipped with the Android 14 system are expected to support this technology.
However, since satellite communication technology is still used in low-frequency applications on mobile phones, the industry's expectations for the purchasing power of this technology are not high.
In addition, innovations in hardware such as scroll screens also need to wait for the supply chain to mature.
In contrast, the "Smart Island" designed by Apple for the iPhone 14 Pro version at the autumn conference has become an important direction for everyone to focus on.
From the perspective of the industry, for the first time, Apple has presented a new interactive method in the "hole-digging screen", which has changed the design language since the iPhone X. While expanding the screen ratio, it also shows the direction of software application innovation.
Honor CEO Zhao Ming believes that mobile phones are entering the era of interaction and system reform. In addition to hardware iterations such as cameras and folding screens, the experience of operating system and software performance blessing is crucial.
"The integrated framework design of the combination of software, hardware and system will become the future trend."
However, from the perspective of investment path, the entry points of various domestic manufacturers at the software level are actually different.
Apple completes the interaction in its own unified ecosystem, while Huawei's "Hongmeng operating system" is a self-contained system, which belongs to a multi-level layout from the bottom layer to the framework and then to the application.
Honor launched MagicOS, which integrates from top to bottom compatible with existing ecosystem and operating system solutions, including Android system, PC-like system, IoT (Internet of Things smart home) and other accessories.
For example, when working, users can share the same set of keyboard and mouse on PC, PAD and mobile phone, and the keyboard and mouse can shuttle between the three screens to complete collaborative work.
Zhao Ming told reporters in a previous interview that OS has become one of the core strategic points of mobile phone manufacturers in the field of product technology innovation.
"The core concept of MagicOS evolution is to use an open ecosystem to compete with a closed ecosystem. At present, there are nearly 8,000 internal R&D personnel and thousands of OS special R&D teams."
The person in charge of another mobile phone manufacturer also told reporters that although mobile phones still occupy the mainstream entrance of the mobile ecosystem, mobile phone manufacturers can only truly grasp the initiative of industrial development by "sinking" to the bottom of mobile phone software and hardware.
"Whether it's good to use is a false thing, but for manufacturers, the lag, energy consumption, and application interoperability involved in the software are all hard indicators."
Opportunities and variables in the high-end market
In the sluggish market environment, the global average selling price of high-end smartphones hit a new high in the latest quarter.
According to data from Counterpoint Research's monthly report on mobile phone sales, in the second quarter of 2022, the average selling price (ASP) of the global high-end smartphone market (wholesale price of $400 is about RMB 2,750 and above) increased by 8% year-on-year, reaching $780 (approximately RMB 2,750). 5,380 yuan), a new high in the second quarter.
Growth in the premium segment also pushed global smartphone ASPs to their highest-ever second quarter in the second quarter.
With the release of the iPhone 14 series, a new round of high-end phone competition will start again. For domestic mobile phone manufacturers, opportunities and challenges are coming again.
Ni Fei, president of ZTE's terminal business unit, said that the era of rapid growth in the mobile phone market has passed, but the "take turns growing" of mobile phone brands also means that there are many possibilities in the industry.
Huawei has high hopes for the Mate50 series.
An offline channel dealer told reporters that the offline stocking of this round of flagship products is more abundant than ever.
Regarding the pressure brought by Apple, Zhao Ming said that the changes in the market structure caused by new products are temporary.
"We will not change our strategy just because Apple released the iPhone 14 or other products. The iPhone 13 has passed this year, and it has not let us die. Instead of struggling, it is better to focus on our core competitiveness, the next generation of folding screens. , the competitiveness of the next-generation flagship, and the arrival of the iPhone 14 is nothing to fear.”
IDC believes that the domestic smartphone market is unlikely to see much improvement in 2022, but products with differentiated experiences can still impress consumers and drive consumers to switch phones.
"With the long-term investment of major domestic Android manufacturers in the high-end line, including products, services, channels and brands, the competitiveness of Android mobile phones in the high-end market will be significantly improved. In addition, more and more Android manufacturers In-depth cooperation with the supply chain has started from the technology pre-research stage, the model of sharing investment and risk has gradually become common, some underlying technologies have become more open, and more and more customized and differentiated products are emerging." Guo Tianxiang He told reporters that through more time accumulation, from quantitative change to qualitative change, Android mobile phones are expected to gradually gain a firm foothold in the high-end market, which will further impact Apple's dominant position in the future, and the competition in the high-end mobile phone market will become more intense.