Sept 10 (Askume) – Apple’s (AAPL.O) new iPhone 16 failed to excite investors as its long-awaited AI features are still in testing mode, while Huawei’s industry-first three-fold phone also failed to excite global investors.
Apple shares fell 1.7% on Tuesday, a day after the US technology giant introduced a new iPhone with hardware-level integration of artificial intelligence-based apps but limited changes to the exterior design.
The phones will use an artificial intelligence feature called Apple Inc. to improve the company’s voice assistant, Siri, and improve the camera.
These features will be available in beta on US iPhones next month, which could prevent people from upgrading to the iPhone 16 prematurely.
“There are a lot of terms like ‘end of the year’ and ‘beginning of next year,’ and Apple’s key message with the iPhone 16 is: next year will be better,” Needham analyst Laura Martin said in a note.
Apple has not said when it will end the testing phase, nor has it announced any partners in China to help advance its artificial intelligence ambitions.
The lack of artificial intelligence features in the new iPhones has been criticized in China, where the government has ordered that generative chatbots based on artificial intelligence must be tested before they are released to the public.
The hashtag “iPhone 16 Chinese version does not support AI yet” received 11.33 million views and more than 1,500 comments on Weibo.
One Weibo user wrote: “If you can’t use artificial intelligence, what’s the point of buying it?” Another commented, “The biggest selling point is without artificial intelligence, the price should be half.”
Apple has not raised the price of the new iPhones, which Wall Street analysts say is a good strategy because consumers are not willing to spend money on big-ticket items. Just hours after Apple’s conference, Huawei launched its new Mate XT smartphone, a three-fold phone that sells for $2,800.
Will Wong, a senior researcher at consulting firm IDC, said: “Due to production constraints and higher prices, the new (Huawei) phones will not have a major impact on shipments.”
“But it is telling consumers it is still the leader in technology and that the potential challenge to Apple could go beyond market share.”
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According to the company’s website, the Mate XT has received over 4 million pre-orders, with no deposit required. It includes an AI assistant with text summarization, translation and editing capabilities, as well as AI-enhanced image editing features such as trimming unwanted parts of a photo.
Huawei’s successful smartphone launches in recent months have highlighted the company’s ability to withstand US sanctions and strengthened its position against Apple in China.
In contrast, Apple’s sales in the country have slowed after years of strong growth, and its ranking in the world’s second-largest economy has now fallen from third to sixth.
Canalys data shows that iPhone shipments in China declined by 6.7% in the second quarter of 2024.
Last year, Huawei defied US sanctions that cut off its global chip supply chain and released devices using domestic chips, leading a comeback in the high-end smartphone sector. The launch of the Mate 60 Pro surprised analysts and US officials.
Both the Mate XT and iPhone 16 will go on sale on September 20.
(1 USD = 7.1199 RMB)
