The Replaceable iPhone
It seems iPhone is copying Chinese phone makers as it works to hold its fashionista price. It was a laughable line when Apple CEO made dual-SIM seem like a big deal in this world. Apparently, he did not know that Tecno was born with dual-SIM many years ago across Africa. But it may not matter: as Apple moves into services, it can simply diminish the impact of its exclusive software residing on the proprietary hardware. Who knows? There may be $399 iPhone Naija in 5 years as those special moments of innovations seem to be harder as China moves ahead in many areas. No matter how you see it, Apple is hitting the era of hardware parity where there is nothing it can do better than elite Chinese phone hardware makers. The key value now is brand for those open to pay $1,000 for a product which can go for $600 in China with another logo!
Tech Node founder Gang Lu complains in an essay published yesterday that virtually all the features touted by Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple’s Sept. 13 launch event as breakthrough innovations unique to the latest generation of iPhones are, in fact, derivatives of technologies already widely used in China. Lu describes himself as a die-hard Apple fan. But he laments that big screens, borderless screens, dual-cameras, and dual-SIM cards are commonplace in China. Lu’s conclusion after watching the Apple roll-out: “For the first time, I found iPhone is replaceable.”
The Wall Street Journal concurs that Apple’s “Chinese rivals already offer similar features for less money.” Indeed, the Journal argues Apple has adopted many of those new features for the express purpose of hanging on to Chinese consumers, who account for about a fifth of the company’s global sales. Will a copy-cat strategy will be enough to help Apple maintain, much less grow, its China market share? (Fortune Newsletter)