Will the AI counterattack of domestic mobile phones be sufficient in the face of the "price cut and spec upgrade" of the iPhone 17?
In this year's mobile phone market, an abnormal phenomenon has emerged: the newly released iPhones are no longer experiencing rapid price drops as in previous years. Instead, their prices remain firm, and they are in short supply. Meanwhile, Apple's market value has once again exceeded the $4 trillion mark, and its stock price has reached a new high.
Behind this market performance is a significant adjustment in Apple's product strategy. The iPhone 17 series has redefined the cost - performance standard of flagship phones through a combination of "price cuts and increased features," and has regained the dominance in the high - end market.
Facing Apple's strong performance, domestic mobile phone manufacturers are not giving up easily. Judging from the flagship phones released by leading brands such as Xiaomi, vivo, and OPPO, they have all tacitly adopted the strategy of "increasing quantity without raising prices." They have loaded up on features in imaging and AI and continued to benchmark against Apple in terms of the system.
When Apple has regained the initiative in pricing, will the strategy of "increasing quantity without raising prices" of domestic flagships still work? In today's era of increasingly serious technological homogenization, what is the key factor determining users' choices?
Apple Redefines the Logic of "Price Cuts"
The iPhone that is most suitable to be a "long - term user's phone" has emerged.
The standard version of the iPhone 17 comes standard with a 120Hz adaptive high - refresh rate, has a storage capacity starting from 256GB, and has upgraded lenses and battery, finally making up for all the previous shortcomings of the standard iPhone version. More importantly, the starting price of the iPhone 17 is $1000 lower than that of the same - configuration version of the iPhone 16. If you can get the national subsidy, the starting price is only $5499.
This strategy of "increasing quantity and cutting prices" has precisely hit the consumers' psychology. Compared with some domestic flagships with a starting price also in the range of $5000 - $6000, the standard version of the iPhone 17 still has obvious advantages in brand value and system experience.
The high product quality has driven the popularity of the entire iPhone 17 series. According to the statistics of Digital Chat Station, as of October 19th, the sales volumes of the standard, Pro, and Max versions of the iPhone 17 have reached 1.1 million, 1.676 million, and 2.52 million respectively. The Max version, with a starting price of $9999, has the highest sales volume, accounting for nearly 50%.
The price - holding strategy of the iPhone 17 is in sharp contrast to previous years. After the iPhone 16 was launched last year, its price had dropped significantly by Double 11. The actual selling price of the 256GB version on e - commerce platforms was about $5500. However, the situation this year is completely different: the national subsidy quotas in various places are running out. Consumers can only reserve the iPhone 17 at a price of $5999, and the actual payment price is even higher than that of the previous generation. Moreover, they have to wait for nearly 20 days to receive the goods.
This reversal of the supply - demand relationship has allowed Apple to regain the initiative in pricing.
On online platforms, many fans have made wishes to Li Jiaqi, hoping that he can bring down the price of the iPhone 17. However, Li Jiaqi said helplessly during a live broadcast that he may not sell the iPhone 17 this year because it is selling too well and he can't get the goods. Even the Pro Max he reserved himself hasn't been delivered yet.
What's more noteworthy is Apple's layout in its channel strategy. Although the Apple official website sells the phones at the original price, it offers 24 - month interest - free installments and a 14 - day return service. The delivery time of the best - selling Pro Max has been scheduled until mid - November. In contrast, although third - party e - commerce channels offer a $300 discount on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, they only provide 12 - month interest - free installments, and the return conditions are more stringent.
After Apple has re - anchored the price baseline, domestic manufacturers have also quickly adjusted their strategies. The prices of the 16GB + 512GB versions of the Pro models of domestic flagships such as vivo and OPPO are all set at $5999, directly competing with the standard version of the iPhone 17. In comparison, the price of the Xiaomi 17 is more flexible. The Pro model is a small - screen flagship, with its configuration benchmarking against the Max versions of its competitors. The 16GB + 512GB version is priced at $5599, while the larger - sized Xiaomi 17 Max with the same capacity is priced at $6299.
Judging from the market performance, Xiaomi has reaped the benefits of "getting ahead." According to previous years' practice, Xiaomi's new phone was usually launched in October, but this year it was advanced to the end of September, catching its competitors off guard. From the end of September to mid - October, the Xiaomi 17 was the only new domestic flagship available for selection. Lu Weibing, the president of Xiaomi Mobile, revealed that the sales volume of the Xiaomi 17 series exceeded 1 million units within 5 days of its launch, with the Pro Max version having the highest sales volume.
In contrast, vivo and OPPO still mainly rely on old models in the same price range during the same period. This generation gap has allowed Xiaomi to grab a larger share of the market in the short term and accelerated the brand's upward breakthrough in the high - end market.
How Can Domestic Flagships Break Through?
The strong performance of the iPhone 17 and Xiaomi's strategy of getting ahead have put unprecedented competitive pressure on manufacturers such as vivo and OPPO. Facing this unfavorable situation, domestic manufacturers are seeking to break through by upgrading product quality and innovating marketing strategies.
On October 13th, vivo launched its annual flagship X300 series, but the real competition started half a month ago. To minimize the loss of potential users, vivo quickly placed the prototypes of the phones in stores across the country after the launch of the Xiaomi 17, allowing consumers to experience the product's appearance and UI interface in advance. Although the system functions were locked and users couldn't have a complete experience, this "seize the initiative" strategy at least kept the brand in the spotlight.
At the same time, vivo enhances user stickiness through rich pre - sale benefits: it gives away practical accessories such as Bluetooth earphones, magnetic protective cases, and backpacks, and supports the purchase of one - year extended warranty and three - year battery insurance for $9.9. As a "sister model," OPPO has also adopted almost the same marketing strategy.
However, the embarrassing situation of "only being able to touch but not use" from the end of September until the official product launch has inevitably led to user loss.
On September 26th, Mr. Chen from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, reserved the X300 Pro at the vivo store in Ouhai Intime. Due to the long waiting time, he finally switched to buying the iPhone 17 Pro Max. "When I asked the salesperson to refund the deposit, I was even asked to show the purchase record of the iPhone. I can tell they are also having a hard time," Mr. Chen said.
What really makes fans willing to wait is the imaging systems of vivo and OPPO. The 200 - megapixel periscope telephoto lens, which was used in the ultra versions of domestic flagships last year, has become a standard feature in the Pro versions of this year's vivo X300 and OPPO Find 9.
In terms of battery capacity, domestic flagships have achieved a "specification superiority" over the iPhone. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has the largest battery capacity in the whole series, exceeding 4800 mAh, while the battery capacity of domestic flagships this year has generally soared to over 7000 mAh.
However, parameter advantages do not necessarily mean advantages in user experience. Due to factors such as the optimization of the Android system, the actual durability of Android phone batteries still remains a problem. A junior student in Zhejiang bought an Android flagship phone when he entered college. After just two years, the battery health has dropped to 72%, making it difficult to meet the demand of one - charge - a - day.
To dispel users' concerns about the battery, in the pre - sale benefits of the vivo X300 series, users can spend $9.9 to get a three - year battery warranty. When the battery health drops below 80%, they can get a new battery for free. OPPO also emphasized at the press conference that the batteries of the Find 9 series can remain healthy and durable for 60 months.
Is AI a New Opportunity?
At this year's iPhone 17 press conference, Apple demonstrated a number of AI functions. However, since Apple's AI has not been launched in China, the domestic version of the iPhone 17 series is not the full - fledged version. In contrast, domestic flagships have taken the lead in AI.
"There's not much to say about chips and benchmark scores, but there are no objective and quantifiable indicators for AI and imaging, giving manufacturers more room for free play," said a mobile phone reviewer.
Judging from the strategies of this year's flagship phones, manufacturers are trying to make phones more interesting and efficient through AI. For example, when express deliveries or takeaways arrive at the delivery station, the iPhone does not support automatically extracting the pick - up code and displaying it at the top. However, OPPO demonstrated this function at the Color OS press conference. To set itself apart from its competitors, it even paired the logo of the takeaway merchant on the left side of the pick - up code.
At the same time, functions such as AI accounting, automatically extracting video content and converting it into text, AI automatically removing clutter from photos and videos, and intelligent image recognition are also the focus of this year's domestic flagships. OPPO has even developed a function for "arguing" on social platforms. AI can "fire back" several times in a second when the user is arguing with someone. Young users may find such functions that are close to online culture and full of fun quite novel.
AI is not only used in software optimization but also reflected in hardware interconnection. Xiaomi, vivo, and OPPO have all emphasized the interconnection between their own devices and the Apple ecosystem.
At the Xiaomi 17 press conference, Lei Jun demonstrated functions such as notification transfer and mirrored message reply between Xiaomi phones and iPhones. OPPO showed at the press conference that the Find X9 phone can push high - speed train information, including carriage and seat numbers, to the Apple iWatch, a function that even the iPhone does not have.
Can AI really build a moat for domestic flagships? A content creator, who used to be a loyal "Apple fan" and changed to the latest iPhone every year, has now become a dual - user of Apple and Android devices. He showed an Android flagship phone to "Baobian" and said that during a meeting, the phone automatically organized the key points of the speech after recording, making him exclaim that "Apple is falling behind." AI has transformed the phone from a standardized product into a personalized one.
As a product manager of a domestic mobile phone said, "We'll do what Apple doesn't do." The cleverness of this strategy lies in not competing directly with the Apple ecosystem. Instead, by means of compatibility and supplementation, it provides a smoother user experience for dual - device users, thus finding a unique value position in the competition.
In today's smartphone market, users' selection criteria are changing: from simply considering cost - performance to precisely matching specific usage scenarios and personal needs. In this sense, market differentiation may be more valuable than uniformity - users with different needs will eventually find the products most suitable for them.
This article is from the WeChat official account “Baobian” (ID: baobiannews), author: Chen Fashan, published by 36Kr with authorization.