Amidst the continuous heat across the country, rumors about Apple’s new 2022 iPhone 14 are heating up. on July 27, Tianfeng International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted that one of Genius’ rear lenses for the iPhone 14 may have a coating crack quality issue, and Apple has shifted about 10 million lens orders from Genius to Largan, and the good news is – the impact on iPhone 14 shipments is almost negligible. “The good news is that the impact on iPhone 14 shipments will be almost negligible, but beyond the “minor issues”, the iPhone 14 has been in the news for months, and the industry chain has been picking up the pieces of the new model that has yet to be released.
No “bangs screen” design, all 6G memory, A16 chip …… many exposed performance, appearance news on the Internet, constantly stimulating the eyeballs and brain of fruit fans.
A sudden official discount activity, and seems to be disguised for the listing of the new iPhone momentum. Recently, Apple’s official website announced that from July 29 to August 1, the official website can enjoy a standing discount of up to $600 on selected models, and the iPhone 13 series is among them. Apple’s official website has been discounted for 4 consecutive days, which is very rare in overseas markets, and the first time in the domestic market.
Is Apple clearing inventory to make way for iPhone 14? Apple CEO Cook denied the “clearing inventory” when there were many different opinions. In the face of a rare 10.6% year-on-year decline in net profit in the second quarter of this year, Cook is more optimistic that revenue growth will accelerate in the fourth quarter, “despite weakness in some areas”.
What’s Apple’s big news for the annual “iPhone season” as officials come down to build momentum?
First iPhone discount in mainland China
When you open Apple’s official website, the slogan “Cool Specials, and Summer is Right” stands out. The details of the event show that the participating models are iPhone 13 full series, iPhone SE, iPhone 12 and 12mini, Apple Watch SE, AirPodsPro, AirPods, with discounts of 600 yuan, 200 yuan, 500 yuan, 200 yuan, 250 yuan and 150 yuan respectively.
It’s worth noting that there is a limit to the number of units available for this special purchase: each customer is limited to two units per product category, and the number of participating items in the store is also limited: only 22,000 iPhones, 1,700 Apple Watches and 3,000 AirPods, respectively.
However, such a price may not be “unusual”. The iPhone 13 regular model, for example, is currently priced at 5999 yuan on the official website, and is still 5399 yuan after a 600 yuan discount – the same price as most mainstream e-commerce platforms: 5399 yuan after coupons at Jingdong’s own flagship store, and 5499 yuan at Suning Tesco’s flagship store.
“I plan to buy an AirPods,” fruit fan Xixi (a pseudonym) told reporters that despite the same price as the e-commerce platform, she still intends to participate in this activity, Apple’s official website is not only more reassuring but also supports 14-day no-reason returns and 12-month interest-free payments in installments.
“600 yuan of concessions is not really a big deal, the key is the official down to give concessions attitude compelling.” An investment source told the “IT Times” reporter, “This may be able to see the change in Apple’s marketing strategy, this activity to clear inventory, but also to attract a wave of attention before the launch of the iPhone 14.”
Mass production in August: iPhone 14 shipments are predicted to be higher than 13
From the arrival of the iPhone 14, perhaps only to wait another month or so.
Supply chain sources point out that iPhone 14 will be mass-produced in August as usual, and officially released in September.
IT Times reporter found that recently Apple’s main domestic foundry Foxconn, PEGATRON, etc. are starting to recruit workers on a large scale. Zhengzhou Foxconn’s iDPBG business group, which is responsible for iPhone assembly, continues to recruit, and the platform information shows that the “return fee” can reach up to 9,200 yuan. According to media reports, the recruitment fee for Apple iPhone assembly business in Foxconn’s Longhua plant in Shenzhen has been raised from RMB5,280 to RMB6,480 in just two weeks.
Compared with last year’s iPhone 13, which was trolled as “moderate” and “uninspiring”, the iPhone 14 brings no small surprises.
According to Digitimes, the iPhone 14 will be equipped with 6GB of RAM, with the 14 Pro and Pro Max high-end models using LPDDR5 memory and A16 processor, and the 14 and 14 Max as the basic models using LPDDR4X memory and A15 processor.
In terms of appearance, the iPhone 14, 14 Pro, 14 Max and 14 Pro Max models are 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches respectively; the base model will keep the bangs screen and non-high brush screen, the Pro model will use the exclamation point “dugout screen” and LTPO screen; the base model is still 12 megapixels The base model will still have 12 megapixels, while the Pro model will have an upgraded 48-megapixel main camera and 8K video recording; all four models are expected to have a new purple color scheme.
iPhone 14 rendering Photo source: Internet
In terms of price, the full range of iPhone 14 models may all see a rise of about $1,000. iPhone 14 reaches $799, while the top-of-the-line 14 Pro Max model may become the most expensive iPhone to date.
“When the iPhone 13 came out last year, many of my fruit friends said there was no need to buy it, but this time they are clamoring to get it.” Sisi said, “iPhone 14 is obviously more popular, just without the bangs screen, it’s very heartwarming.”
iPhone 14 rendering Photo: Internet
Last year, the iPhone 13 was a “high point” for Apple despite its lack of critical acclaim. iPhone 13 was the top-selling model in the fourth quarter of 2021, helping Apple return to the top of global smartphone shipments with a 22 percent market share.
With the many benefits of this year’s new models, Apple is expressing more optimistic shipping projections. According to multiple sources, Apple has told suppliers that initial sales of iPhone 14 will be better than iPhone 13. Taiwan media in China expects iPhone 14 shipments to reach 90-100 million units in the second half of the year.
The “Mobile Phone War” continues
In front of Apple’s high-profile discount action, the Android camp can be described as “a cold heart”. The upcoming iPhone 14 will also make the Android camp more nervous.
According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communication Research, in the first four months of 2022, cell phone shipments in the domestic market fell 30.3% year on year, the largest drop in five years. At that time, industry insiders pointed out that the Jingdong 618 shopping festival, which began in early June, may bring some relief to the upstream and downstream supply chain pressure.
Photo source: China National Communication Institute
In fact, at a time when the domestic cell phone market is weak, iPhone momentum is still strong. Jingdong 618 self-owned model sales chart shows that during the 618 campaign, the top iPhone 13 sold 2,824,300 units, more than eight times the second place Redmi K50 sales of 341,300 units, eating up a large part of the market alone.
In the global market, Apple also launched an offensive against Android manufacturers, including Samsung. According to a recent Digitimes report, Apple has placed additional orders for iPhone 14 series components, perhaps with the intent of capturing market share in the midst of a downturn in the Android phone market.
Recently, Ming-Chi Kuo also expressed the same concern on Twitter. He believes that the pressure on the supply chain accumulated by Android smartphones in the weak market demand is still not completely relieved, and inventory adjustments may continue into the fourth quarter of this year. Despite the slowdown in orders in the Android phone market from June to July and a 9% year-on-year increase in smartphone shipments in China in June, it’s still not enough to prove that “the worst period for Android phones has passed”.
On the contrary, in the context of the global economic slowdown and the impact of the epidemic on consumer demand, investment banks such as Morgan Stanley and Citi have lowered their target prices for Apple. But on July 28, Apple delivered a surprising earnings report.
The second quarter 2022 earnings report showed that from April to June, Apple made $83 billion in revenue, up 1.87% year-on-year, better than most analysts had previously expected. Apple had issued a statement in April this year, supply problems will bring $4 billion to $8 billion in revenue losses, but the actual earnings report showed that this part of the loss is less than expected.
Apple stands, the core reason still lies in the iPhone sales momentum is unabated. Since the beginning, iPhone sales have brought in revenue is the bulk of Apple’s total revenue. The earnings report showed that iPhone sales for the quarter were $40.67 billion, up 2.8 percent, the only hardware that grew in Apple’s revenue and did not produce the same drop as expected.
Morgan Stanley analyst Eric Woodring recently pointed out that the global consumer economy is weak and Apple’s business model is shifting from emphasizing hardware shipments to increasing service subscription revenue.
But at the moment, it is not difficult to predict that in the annual “iPhone season”, Apple’s ambition is still blooming in the iPhone 14.
