Apple and Huawei, two highly anticipated brands, went head-to-head on the same day.

Apple's annual new product launch event, often likened to the "tech spring festival," has traditionally drawn massive crowds eager to stay up late for the latest updates. Many domestic phone manufacturers also hold their own launch events around the same time to capitalize on Apple's buzz.

However, by 2024, this landscape appears to be shifting.

Undeniably, Apple maintains a leading position in the mobile phone industry and enjoys a solid brand influence. Nevertheless, in recent years, the surprises Apple has offered to the outside world have become increasingly scarce. This time is no exception. Although the iPhone 16 series hasn't seen a price increase, starting at 5,999 yuan, it offers few notable upgrades.

On the other hand, Huawei's introduction of the world's first mass-produced tri-foldable phone, the Mate XT, has sparked significant interest, with over 3 million pre-orders before the launch event.

While Apple sticks to a product update strategy as steady as an ox, Huawei seeks to reclaim lost ground through novelty. Judging solely by the buzz generated during their respective launch events, Huawei appears to have come out on top. Yet, beneath the surface, who truly shines and who falls short remains unclear.

01 Apple vs. Huawei: Who Comes Out on Top?

In this same-day showdown, both Apple and Huawei unveiled new mobile phones and smart ecosystem products, including watches, earphones, and automobiles.

However, mobile phones remained the core focus of this competition. The iPhone 16 series, powered by Apple Intelligence, and Huawei's global first tri-foldable phone had long been anticipated by consumers.

At the launch event, Apple also introduced the AI capabilities of the iPhone 16, similar to what was previously teased at WWDC. Embedded throughout the system, these features enable users to search for photos using keywords, generate summaries for emails, messages, and notifications, among other functions.

However, for Chinese users, Apple's current AI capabilities remain largely theoretical. The practical application of Apple Intelligence will take some time, with a US rollout scheduled for October and select international markets, including Australia, the UK, and Canada, in December. China won't see it until next year at the earliest.

Apart from AI capabilities, the most significant change in the iPhone 16 series lies in its camera upgrades, including the addition of a shutter button, interpreted as Apple's effort to reshape users' photography habits by enabling focus and capture with a light tap.

Moreover, the entire iPhone 16 series features a 48MP ultra-wide-angle camera. The iPhone 16 rear camera arrangement shifts from diagonal to vertical, while the Pro and Pro Max models support up to 4K 120 FPS video recording.

On the hardware front, all iPhone 16 series models have been upgraded to the A18 chip for enhanced performance, delivering a 30% CPU boost and a 40% GPU improvement.

Apple's iPhone 16 series once again adopts a "more for the same" strategy, maintaining a starting price of 5,999 yuan, similar to the iPhone 15 series.

After the launch event, Apple CEO Tim Cook praised the iPhone 16 series as the most advanced iPhone ever created by Apple. Nevertheless, consumers seemed unimpressed, with comments like "lack of highlights" and "incremental innovation" flooding social media platforms.

Twelve hours after the iPhone 16 series launch, Huawei unveiled its first tri-foldable phone, the Mate XT.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, spent over half an hour detailing this innovative device. He highlighted it as the world's first tri-foldable phone, the largest phone globally, and the thinnest as well. When unfolded, its 10.2-inch screen offers a tablet-like experience in the palm of your hand, with a thickness of just 3.6mm.

The Huawei Mate XT also features the Huawei Tiangong Hinge System, enabling seamless folding and unfolding. The phone's body boasts a "rock vein texture," crafted through 80 layers of precision steel, high-temperature forging, and 78 production steps over 22 days.

Yu also demonstrated various usage scenarios for the phone, such as convenient one-fold operation for check-ins and quick information checks during travel. For more extensive information browsing, such as industry PPT analysis reports, the two- or three-fold options offer efficient viewing experiences.

After the launch of the tri-foldable phone, Yu claimed that while its concept might seem obvious, its execution was far from it, positioning Huawei once again as an industry leader, ushering in a new era of foldable technology.

However, the phone's price tag is intimidating: 19,999 yuan for the 256GB version, 21,999 yuan for the 512GB version, and 23,999 yuan for the 1TB version. Before its release, prices on second-hand platforms like Xianyu had soared to over 100,000 yuan.

One user joked, "This phone isn't even as thick as my wallet, but it could empty it in an instant." Clearly, this product is targeted at high-end consumers.

Looking back at the September 10 "epic battle," the question of "who shone brighter and who fell short" may not have a definitive answer, but each viewer likely has their own assessment.

02 Apple's Gradual Shift Towards the Ordinary and Huawei's Accelerated Recovery

Apple's "steady as an ox" iPhone 16 series and Huawei's innovative tri-foldable Mate XT represent two vastly different product update strategies rooted in the companies' unique circumstances.

Relying on a single product line to maintain its position at the top of the premium market, Apple prioritizes stability in its product updates. This limits its room for experimentation, unlike other phone manufacturers that engage in rapid trial-and-error approaches.

Despite years of criticism for losing its "god-like" status and becoming more mundane, iPhone updates have increasingly been met with disappointment over a lack of surprises and dwindling innovation. Fewer people now stay up late to watch launch events, as they once did.

However, those who choose Apple may no longer expect revolutionary innovations but value the brand's smooth user experience, stable system, and comprehensive ecosystem. Apple consistently demonstrates the "smells good" principle, with users both mocking the lack of innovation and willingly paying for the products.

Under this principle, Apple became the first company to surpass a market valuation of $3 trillion and has long held the top spot globally. In terms of sales, it even surpassed Samsung last year to take the lead.

Yet, Apple's mobile phones are not without concerns. While remaining among the top two globally in sales volume in the first half of this year, the company saw a year-on-year decline in both sales and revenue in the first quarter. To boost sales, Apple has increasingly offered more generous promotions.

For Apple, maintaining its market share and position is paramount. In contrast, Huawei must innovate to reclaim lost ground.

Since 2019, Huawei's mobile phone business has suffered setbacks due to uncontrollable factors like chip restrictions, dropping from its peak positions domestically and globally to become an "other" in the market.

However, the launch of the Huawei Mate 60 in late August last year marked Huawei's comeback, leveraging its Mate, Pura, and foldable phone series to accelerate its resurgence in the premium market.

Especially in foldable phones, Huawei has been a frontrunner in China, continually pushing boundaries with various folding formats beyond the tri-fold design.

For Huawei, innovating in foldable phone form factors means expanding its share in the premium market.

According to a research report by Kaiyuan Securities, Huawei's technological breakthroughs and the launch of the Mate 60, Pura 70 series, and Mate X5 foldable series have reestablished the company in the domestic premium mobile phone market. Currently, the Mate 60 and Pura 70 series remain popular, contributing to a resurgence in domestic premium phone sales.

Source: Canalys

Canalys data indicates that by the second quarter of this year, Huawei ranked fourth in domestic mobile phone sales. While its global market share remains low, it has secured the third position in the global premium mobile phone market, with China as its core market.

Compared to its low point, Huawei has regained a significant foothold.

03 Who Will Lead the Next Generation of Smartphones?

Despite their different situations and product strategies, Apple and Huawei, as leading players in the mobile phone industry, both release flagship products that set industry trends.

While Huawei focuses on hardware innovation through foldable phones, Apple emphasizes software enhancements by incorporating AI into its devices.

Undoubtedly, Huawei has secured a slice of the premium mobile phone market by offering enhanced experiences and reliable foldable phones in various form factors.

However, foldable phones still have much room for improvement in terms of user experience, with issues like high prices, fragility, visible creases, and limited durability remaining unresolved. Significant qualitative changes are unlikely in the short term, and foldable phones will likely remain a niche market, accounting for around 5% of total sales for at least the next five years. (See "Foldable Phones: Stalled Progress?" for more details)

In contrast, AI-enabled smartphones attract more user attention and are the focus of rapid iteration among all phone manufacturers.

Huawei is no exception, as demonstrated by Richard Yu showcasing AI features in the Mate XT at the launch event.

Apple, known for its seamless hardware-software integration, is considered a strong contender for realizing the AI Phone. However, the current functions disclosed for Apple Intelligence are still some distance from users' ideal AI phone assistant.

As Q3 2024 draws to a close, AI applications based on large AI models have yet to explode, and AI phones remain more of a promise than a reality.

Just a few days ago, Zhao Ming, CEO of Honor, announced at IFA (International Funkausstellung Berlin) that smartphones are entering the "auto-driving era." However, Honor is well aware that current AI phones are still in their infancy. Fang Fei, President of Honor's Product Line, acknowledged in an interview that users often feel disappointed with AI phones due to the technology's nascent stage, expecting real progress by year-end.

It is certain that users need more patience regarding the development of AI phones.

Everyone aspires to own smarter, more autonomous AI phones, but the path to achieving this ideal remains unclear.

Perhaps, through repeated iterations, new forms of intelligent devices will emerge, completely replacing smartphones and ushering in a new era of technological advancement.

Source: Apple's official website

Just as XR devices were once hailed as tickets to the next technological era, the cutting-edge Vision Pro, though still a novelty for the few, signals the brewing of novel electronic products.

When that time comes, new industry leaders may emerge, while those dominant in the smartphone era will face even greater challenges as they strive to advance into the next cycle.

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