It is not easy to say whether Apple's new products drive the channel incitement to drive the change of the industrial chain.

(Original title: Apple's new channel to compete for China's performance is expected to turn red)

Apple industry chain shakes

Early in the morning of Beijing time yesterday, Apple released a new generation of three iPhones, which caused arousal concern for fruit powder. Many home appliance manufacturers in the Chinese market also launched pre-sale services on the same day.

At the same time, the entire smart phone industry is also eagerly anticipating the emergence of a new generation of iPhone. Apple's past changes have brought about a wide range of applications of new technologies, which in turn has promoted changes in the mobile phone supply chain. This time, changes such as adopting OLED full-screens and introduction of Face ID unlocking technology have been confirmed, but whether or not it will bring about changes in the mobile phone supply chain remains to be seen.

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In an interview with 21st Century Business Herald, Wang Hao, president of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan Greater China, believes that the new iPhone will return to the double-sided glass body, eliminate the full screen design of the home button, and major technological breakthroughs such as wireless charging. Stimulating consumers' desire to buy. However, he judged that Apple had a chance to achieve temporary success, but it was difficult to reverse the long-term trend of Chinese buyers buying local brands.

Overnight, the new iPhone swept the entire network.

In the early morning of September 13, Apple released three new products at the latest release, namely iPhone 8, iPhone 8plus and iPhone X. The iPhone X, with a price of nearly ten thousand yuan, has indisputably reached the hot search list of Baidu, Weibo and other platforms. The face recognition function that can be unlocked at a glance is also ridiculed by netizens. The enthusiasm of fruit powder is still a soft spot for it.

The 21st Century Business Herald WeChat public launched a survey on this issue. Among the questions titled “Which iPhone Will You Choose?”, 32% of readers chose iPhone X. Since the official price of its iPhone X 256G version is as high as 9,688 yuan, it has virtually given the e-commerce instalment business some opportunities.

As the most red "IP", Apple's new product has triggered the scramble for distribution channels and take advantage of marketing. Tmall, Jingdong Mall, Staged Mall, etc. have introduced installment payments, cash vouchers, and trade-in measures. Cattle’s hunger marketing has even scrambled iPhone prices to more than 20,000 yuan. This new product release coincides with the 10th anniversary of Apple. Coupled with many changes in appearance and performance, the domestic market may usher in a new round of replacement cycles.

In an interview with 21st Century Business Herald, Wang Hao, president of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan Greater China, believes that the new iPhone will return to the double-sided glass body, eliminate the full screen design of the home button, and major technological breakthroughs such as wireless charging. Stimulating consumers' desire to buy. "Apple has insufficient innovation in hardware configuration. Xiaomi, Samsung, vivo, Nubian and other brands have already announced that they will release a full-screen mobile phone. In terms of face recognition, Samsung introduced the face recognition technology earlier this year."

He judged that Apple had the opportunity to achieve temporary success, but it was difficult to reverse the long-term trend of Chinese buyers buying local brands.

Channel sinking

On the morning of September 12, the staging music store took the lead in publishing the news. It will be the first to sell iPhone new products on the entire network, and provide users with 36 phases of service. Among them, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have been sold, and the iPhone X has started booking. A few hours later, Lynx Mall also released the same news that it has been determined that the new iPhone will officially be announced at the official Tmall Apple flagship store on September 13. The Jingdong booking platform also used Apple's new machine to market and promote the white bar business.

At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, about six hours before Apple's conference, Tmall and Jingdong Mall began to take advantage of each other's opportunities, sending out press releases to the media and repeatedly stressing their starting position. With traditional sales channels, almost no sound is emitted.

Zhou Tianmu, director of the staged music e-commerce business department, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that Apple’s attraction to young people was very strong. In the integrated e-commerce channel, Apple and Android phones generally have a ratio of 1:9, but in phased music, the ratio is close to 5:5. "This is a very special data. As a high-value-added commodity, the demand for users to buy the iPhone in phases is strong. By iPhone 8, it will rise to a small peak."

Through a set of data can also see the enthusiasm of users to buy the iPhone in phases. In the staged mall, mobile phone sales TOP10 list, the iPhone is more than double the total sales of other 9 brands. From the perspective of the entire network, the market share of Apple's mobile phone is 9.6%, but in the phased music mall, Apple's mobile phone shipments accounted for more than 50% last year.

At present, Apple has made e-commerce an important online channel. Apple's official flagship store has entered the Tmall Mall; staged music mall has obtained Apple's official authorized dealer qualifications. Since Tmall and Jingdong Mall respectively launched services such as flower stage and white strip interest-free, they are expected to boost iPhone sales.

Zhang Junqiang, a senior operator of Tmall Mobile, admitted in an interview with a reporter from the 21st Century Business Herald that from the original intention of cooperation, Apple viewed e-commerce as a useful supplement to Greater China. “Taking Tmall as an example, not only in the first and second tier cities, but also in the third and fourth tier cities, the purchasing power of this group of people is also increasing. Apple can use e-commerce to expand the audience in China. From our data Apple users are getting younger, 28-29 years old are active users, and young female users are starting to increase."

It is reported that Apple's direct supply channels, there are three, one is the official website, the second is the official Tmall flagship store, and the third is Apple's direct line retail outlets. These direct marketing channels have the highest status, and they can get the world's supply, and will not change prices due to speculation. In addition to direct supply, Apple also supplies some of its sources of supply to more than a dozen authorized distributors in China, such as mobile, China Unicom, telecommunications, and some distribution companies. Distribution companies will only supply Suning, Gome, JD, etc. after receiving the goods. Business.

The situation is turning

Compared with traditional channels, e-commerce screams much louder. Sites such as Tmall, Jingdong, Suning, etc. have set clear entrances. Alibaba Group's second-quarter financial report showed that Tmall digital mobile phones grew by as much as 50% year-on-year in the quarter, becoming the main position for mobile phone industry online operations.

For the e-commerce platform, traffic is business, and it is a good business for the iPhone to attract users. However, the spectacle of the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 when they were on sale is no longer reproduced. Since 2015, iPhone sales have slowed down. As of August 31, iPhone sales this year have exceeded 2015, but the increase is lower than in previous years is a foregone conclusion, China's consumer spending has gradually become more rational.

Apple’s third quarter 2017 data show that Apple’s revenue for the third quarter was US$45.408 billion, up 7% from US$42.358 billion in the same period of last year; net profit was US$8.717 billion, up 12% from US$7.796 billion in the same period of last year. . However, the performance in Greater China is still falling. Revenue for the third quarter of this region was US$8.004 billion, a 25% drop from the previous quarter. This is already Apple's six-game losing streak in Greater China, which is more than half the decline compared to the $16.8 billion in revenues two years ago.

For the Greater China region, which is seen as a growth point, an arrogant apple made a substantial adjustment. Recently, Apple set up its first Greater China Managing Director in China and reported directly to Cook. This shows that Apple attaches great importance to Greater China. In addition, Apple's cooperation with local Chinese Internet companies has become more and more close. In addition to working with Tencent to prevent spam and telephone harassment in security cooperation, it has also reached cooperation with Alipay and WeChat in terms of payment.

In the early days, buying apps on Apple's App Store required a tedious process of binding bank cards, and now it has opened up more ways. In April this year, Apple insisted that the news of 30% WeChat rewards caused an uproar. Under the pressure of public opinion, Apple eventually canceled the rewards, and then launched the Apple Pay five-fold carnival.

Wang Hao believes that Apple's retreat in the Chinese market is more and more, these initiatives are all expressed Apple's emphasis on the Chinese market. For a long time, Apple's mobile phone has been regarded as the "cheapest luxury product" in China. In recent years, domestic mobile phones have been making continuous efforts, and the increase in national income has caused the iPhone to gradually lose its light luxury. Apple gradually changed its sales strategy in the Chinese market, such as launching the lower-priced iPhone SE to meet the low-end user base, and the iPhone plus high-capacity series to explore high-end users. "In the long run, consumers will be more rational and will not spend blindly on the brand's enthusiasm."

Right now, the lack of supply is also a problem for Apple. According to CNBC, a US financial website, iPhone X will be available in October and shipped in November. Investors believe that iPhone X is too late to ship, and Apple’s sales in the fourth quarter may not reach analysts’ expectations. In the mixed Chinese market, the genuine or false taste of fruit powder still needs to be proved by actual sales performance.