This is what Huawei’s mobile chief tweeted after the Apple iPhone unveil
Chinese smartphone brands have chipped away at Apple’s market share in China by introducing feature-laden models, but are striving to convince consumers to shell out top dollar and enshrine their brands with the same premium cachet reserved for the iPhone
Huawei Technologies’ mobile business chief Richard Yu Chengdong probably breathed a sigh of relief after Apple unveiled its new iPhones.
At least that was how most social-media users who left comments interpreted a posting by Yu after Apple’s annual iPhone showcase held in Cupertino, California. In a post at 3:01am on Thursday to his 6.5 million followers on microblog Weibo, Yu said rather cryptically: “no problem (for us) now, see you all in London Oct. 16.”
Apple announced three new iPhone models, with the entry-level iPhone XR starting at US$749 and the mid-range iPhone XS at US$999, while the iPhone XS Max with a 6.5-inch screen starts at US$1,099 and goes all the way up to US$1,449 for the top specifications. That represents the most expensive iPhone ever released by Apple, a point that was seized on by netizens who posted their reactions to the product launch.
“This product, this pricing … the most happy person today must be Yu,” Weibo user Chengshuhuakai wrote in a comment on Yu’s account.
Whatever the views, the reaction on both Yu and netizens underscore the intense competition in the smartphone industry, particularly in China, where Huawei leads in shipments but at a lower price segment than Apple.
Chinese smartphone brands have chipped away at Apple’s market share in China by introducing feature-laden models, but are still striving to convince consumers to shell out top dollar and enshrine their brands with the same premium cachet reserved for the iPhone.