Although the iPhone 17 has been a huge hit, Apple's "traffic hunger" has worsened.

The Apple product launch event in 2025 seemed to allow Apple, which had been suppressed for several years, to let out a long - held breath.

As of now, the iPhone 17 series has received rave reviews. Some people on the internet even predict that this will be the most successful new - product launch for Apple in recent years. Both online and offline, as well as the scalper channels, are in a frenzy. It is reported that on the eve of the product launch, there were more than 40 iPhone 17 products for sale on Xianyu, and 1,296 users searched for iPhone 17 on the platform.

Offline, stores in Yangzhou, Nanjing, Changzhou, Changshu, Jiaxing, Wuxi and other places are bustling.

Online, Apple made "thorough preparations" early on. One week before the global debut of the iPhone 17, Apple announced its entry into the Douyin e - commerce platform. In fact, over the past many years, Apple has been very cautious in choosing online channels in China. In 2014, Tmall obtained the qualification to open the first official Apple Store flagship store in China.

JD.com became the first authorized online channel, Pinduoduo cooperated with Apple in the form of subsidies, and WeChat allowed Apple to open a mini - program for the Apple Store in 2023... Today, Apple has clearly put aside its airs. In addition to the store on Douyin, it has also opened an official account on Xiaohongshu, mainly introducing product features and new - product launch events, with more than 220,000 followers.

In the past two years, Apple's position in the Greater China region has obviously not been as glorious as before. According to Canalys data, in 2024, Apple's iPhone shipments in the Chinese mainland market were 42.9 million units, a 17% decline compared with 2023, making it the company with the largest decline among the top five smartphone manufacturers.

With the launch and sale of the iPhone 17, Apple seems to be elated, but whether its "thirst for traffic" will be cured remains to be seen.

Can Douyin Make Apple Products a Blockbuster?

Frankly speaking, Apple's accelerated entry into Douyin is directly related to the pressure on its market performance in the Greater China region.

In the past two years, this brand, once labeled as high - end and technological, has seen a slowdown in its market - share growth in China. Consumers' enthusiasm for its new products is not as high as before. This market pressure has forced Apple, which has always maintained a sense of distance, to put aside its aloofness and seek channels closer to the consumer market.

Douyin happens to meet this need. It has the strong interactive nature of a short - video community, allowing Apple to reach users more naturally through content and narrow the psychological distance. It also has a mature e - commerce atmosphere, with a complete chain from product promotion to transaction. For Apple, which urgently needs to activate the Greater China market, it is currently the most suitable choice.

However, can Douyin make Apple products a blockbuster?

First of all, Douyin has performed remarkably well in the 3C digital field in recent years. During the Chinese New Year shopping festival last year, the sales of the computer and digital products industry on Douyin increased by 197% year - on - year. Throughout 2024, about 90% of new 3C electrical appliance products on Douyin chose to have their debut on the platform. For S - level new products, Douyin's overall success rate in promoting them to become best - sellers reached 90%, and the success rate for A - level new products was 80%.

Secondly, Douyin's live - streaming e - commerce has strong conversion capabilities in specific scenarios, establishing certain sales advantages for brands. Data shows that in 2024, the sales of products from industrial belts on Douyin's live - streaming rooms accounted for as high as 63% of the total. Throughout the year, more than 53 million live - streaming sales events facilitated transactions, and nearly 150,000 products became blockbusters with sales of over one million yuan through live - streaming.

However, these advantages may not work for Apple.

On the one hand, although Douyin's 600 million daily active users seem to be a huge treasure trove of traffic, there is a mismatch with the target customer group of high - end brands. The middle - class users that Apple wants to reach may have their attention diluted by the flood of "affordable alternatives" and "white - label" products on the platform. In 2024, the number of small and medium - sized merchants newly entering Douyin's e - commerce platform increased by 83% compared with the previous year.

On the other hand, the consumption mentality on Douyin is quietly changing, and the average order value is continuously decreasing. In 2023, the average order value of Douyin's e - commerce mall and search function could reach 100 - 120 yuan, but in 2024, it had dropped to more than 80 yuan, a decline of 30% - 40%.

When users are getting more and more used to buying low - priced products on the platform, the sudden appearance of high - priced Apple products may seem a bit out of place.

This kind of "acclimatization" is not unique to Apple. It has almost become a common dilemma for high - end brands on short - video platforms. For Lululemon, a brand favored by middle - class women, its sales on Douyin from January to June 2024 were only 65.66 million yuan, and it only barely exceeded 100 million yuan in August. On Tmall, it easily exceeded 100 million yuan within half an hour after the start of the Double 11 shopping festival.

Similarly, when COACH tried out live - streaming on Kuaishou, except for the first live - streaming event which had 86,000 views, the number of views dropped sharply to 20,000 in other periods, and the number of concurrent viewers was only in the triple digits. This is not because the brand and the platform didn't work hard enough. It's just that the e - commerce nature of short - video platforms is always at odds with the effects that high - end brands want to achieve.

Apple has suffered from this problem before.

As early as September 2023, Douyin launched the "Official Self - operated Apple Products Store on Douyin", which is "officially authorized by Apple and self - operated by Douyin's e - commerce platform". As of now, this store has accumulated 1.168 million followers and has sold a total of 1.066 million products. The total sales of the four models of the iPhone 16 Pro Max were less than 50,000 units.

In contrast, the iPhone 16 Pro Max in the official self - operated Apple store on JD.com has sold more than 3 million units. Currently, the iPhone 17 is out of stock on JD.com. JD.com data shows that within just one minute after the start of the pre - sale, the sales volume of the iPhone 17 series exceeded the total sales of the previous year.

The Pro Max models in the Tmall flagship store even experienced an "instant out - of - stock" situation. Interestingly, in terms of cost - effectiveness, Pinduoduo's 10 - billion - yuan subsidy area has quickly launched the new iPhone 17 series, becoming the pre - sale channel with the largest price cut known so far. On Douyin, the sales data has not been released yet.

In addition, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have long made heavy investments in Douyin, making it a must - fight battlefield in the mobile phone industry. Data shows that during the Chinese New Year shopping festival in 2024, the overall GMV of the entire mobile phone category on Douyin increased by 107% year - on - year. In addition to Apple, leading brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Honor are all engaged in intense competition.

Just in this round of activities, four brands exceeded 100 million yuan in sales, indicating the high degree of competition in this market segment.

More notably, in the short - video consumption scenario, mobile phone competition has been refined to the single - product level. Among the nine single products with sales exceeding 10 million yuan, the Honor Magic 6 Pro, OnePlus Ace 3, and vivo X100 ranked in the top three, dividing the high - end and mid - high - end markets.

This means that even if Apple achieves outstanding sales on Douyin, it will still face a full - range siege from domestic manufacturers. Huawei's technology, Xiaomi's cost - effectiveness, and Honor's scenario - based marketing are all rapidly gaining momentum in the Douyin ecosystem. It is actually more difficult for Apple to further stabilize its position on Douyin than before.

Can the iPhone 17 Trigger a "Phone - Replacement Wave"?

Undoubtedly, Apple has shown more sincerity this year than in previous years. In the days after the product launch, the standard version of the iPhone 17 with a high - end configuration, the thinner iPhone Air, and the A19 Pro with explosive performance... have dominated social media platforms. Some Apple fans even praised it as the "strongest in history".

Currently, there are high expectations for the iPhone 17 from all parties. Many models on various platforms are already out of stock, and the predicted shipments are basically higher than those of the iPhone 16. For example, a supply - chain survey by Citigroup Asia shows that the expected shipments of the iPhone 17 series in 2025 are 82 million units, a slight increase compared with the 81 million units of the iPhone 16.

TrendForce also estimates that the shipments of the iPhone 17 series in 2025 are expected to increase by 3.5% compared with the shipments of the iPhone 16 series in 2024. The Pro series remains the main sales force in the market. When the official pre - sale started, topics such as "Unable to access the Apple official website" and "Can't get the iPhone 17" trended on Weibo.

However, the mobile phone market has been sluggish for a long time. Can the seemingly "hot" iPhone 17 series trigger a phone - replacement wave?

Actually, the standard version is equipped with a 120Hz high - refresh - rate screen, the Pro series has its camera upgraded to 48 million pixels and uses a through - type module, and the newly added Air series becomes the thinnest iPhone with a thickness of 5.6 millimeters... From the perspective of technological innovation, some people still think that the upgrades of the iPhone 17 are more about filling in the gaps rather than revolutionary breakthroughs.

Although these improvements have enhanced the product's competitiveness, they may not enable Apple to achieve absolute dominance over the Android camp.

Data shows that in the global high - end smartphone market in the first half of 2025, Apple still ranked first, but its year - on - year growth rate was only 3%. Other brands performed more prominently. Samsung's year - on - year growth rate was 7%, Huawei's was 24%, Xiaomi's was 55%, and Google's growth rate was as high as 105%.

Meanwhile, CIRP released a research result on the US smartphone market, showing that the brand loyalty of Apple iPhone users has been greatly undermined in the past two years. It is expected to decline from 94% in 2021 to 89% in 2025. The user retention rates of other brands are showing an upward trend. For example, Samsung's user retention rate reached a new high of about 76%.

More importantly, the AI function, Apple Intelligence, which is the focus of the industry, is still not supported in the Chinese mainland. Its launch has been postponed to the end of 2025, and there is a possibility of further delay. Although the AI - driven phone - replacement trend, which the industry is looking forward to, has not yet emerged, especially for Apple. According to a survey by CNET, 73% of iPhone users are indifferent to the AI function.

However, it is certain that AI is one of the greatest hopes for the future of the entire mobile phone market.

According to forecasts, the global shipments of smartphones equipped with generative AI functions (GenAI smartphones) will exceed 370 million units in 2025, accounting for 30% of the total global smartphone shipments. The market share of AI - enabled mobile phones in the Chinese market will also grow rapidly, and is expected to exceed 50% by 2027.

During this period of Apple's absence, it is not only likely to miss the important Chinese market, where consumers are interested in AI - enabled mobile phones, but also has to face the fierce pursuit of AI by other mobile phone manufacturers. It is reported that the Huawei Pura 80 series is already equipped with the Pangu Big Model 3.0, and Xiaomi's Pengpai OS 2 has achieved system - level AI interaction.

Moreover, the trend of consumption downgrade and the increasing price sensitivity have actually weakened the attractiveness of the iPhone 17's upgrades.

Although the "more features without a price increase" strategy of the iPhone 17 has been well - received, in 2025, consumers in the discretionary consumption field pay more attention to cost - effectiveness and are more cautious about spending on high - priced products. A survey by UBS in June this year showed that the global consumers' planned phone - replacement cycle has been extended to 31.1 months.

Notably, the purchase intention in the United States in the next 12 months has dropped significantly to 37%. In China, according to data from iiMedia Research, among Chinese smartphone consumers in 2024, 51.34% of those who replaced their phones had used their previous phones for 3 - 4 years, and 12.52% had used their previous phones for 5 years or more.

Another point is that a survey by Citigroup before the launch of the iPhone 17 showed that many iPhone users are still using the iPhone 14 or earlier models. The long - term use of old models, combined with the consumption environment, means that the iPhone 17 not only faces market competition but also the user inertia formed by old models.

Perhaps, the current reality of consumers tightening their wallets makes it difficult for Apple's technological upgrades to turn into market excitement.

When Will Apple's Next Growth Cycle Come?

Apple's financial report for the second quarter of 2025 showed that the current product revenue was $66.613 billion, compared with $61.564 billion in the same period of the previous year. In terms of product composition, Apple's overall revenue is still driven by the iPhone. In the second quarter of 2025, the revenue from the iPhone was $44.582 billion, a 13.44% increase compared with $39.3 billion in the same period of the previous year.

Behind the dominance of the iPhone is the collective weakness of other core product lines.

In the second quarter of 2025, Apple's revenue from the iPad was $6.581 billion, a decrease of 8.11% compared with $7.162 billion in the same period of the previous year. The revenue from wearables, home and accessories was $7.4 billion, a decrease of 8.64% compared with $8.1 billion in the same period of the previous year.

This structural imbalance undoubtedly magnifies Apple's growth risks. Even if the iPhone series is popular, it is difficult to bring a real growth cycle to Apple. Moreover, currently, the weak growth of the global smartphone market is a foregone conclusion. According to the "Global Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracking Report", the global smartphone shipments in 2025 are expected to increase by only 1.0% year - on - year.