In a survey conducted on social networking site Weibo, 60 percent of approximately 350,000 respondents said they wouldn't purchase the new $399 iPhone SE (2020) - that can be Rs. 42,500 in India - that the least expensive iPhone accessible.
But about a fifth said they'd purchase it, while the remainder said they'd consider a purchase. Though respondents were not asked for reasons for their decisions in the survey, many commented that they would be interested if the price falls further.
"If you do not buy it and I do not buy it, tomorrow that the price will drop another CNY 200 (roughly Rs. 2,000)," stated one Weibo user whose comment got more than 10,000 likes.
Apple's market share in China - its own third-biggest market, accounting for approximately 15 percent of its earnings - has shrunk over the past several years since Chinese Android brands progressively release higher-end mobiles.
The reception for your iPhone SE was muted in Europe, where nearly 1 million people have caught the coronavirus and many countries have closed shops or ordered people to stay in the home.
Regardless of the inauspicious backdrop, the new Apple device provides owners of the ageing iPhone 6 an inexpensive means to get onto the most current and most secure version of Apple's iOS smartphone operating system, one industry analyst said.
"These are people who keep their phones for four or five years, until they either break or the battery dies," explained Annette Zimmermann in consultancy Gartner.
5G Race
Competition has intensified in China as rivals are currently releasing 5G apparatus compatible with the nation's upgraded telecoms networks while Apple has yet to launch a iPhone using 5G capability.
Last week many Chinese online retailers reduced iPhone 11 prices by up to 17 percent. Apple occasionally lets its Chinese vendor spouses cut costs to spur demand, though it rarely permits pricing leeway for vendors overseas.
Three China-based analysts said the iPhone SE would mainly appeal to Apple brand loyalists who do not wish to invest about $700 for the luxury iPhone 11.
"The new iPhone SE will, for sure, draw mid-range users that don't take 5G connectivity as a necessity," said Mo Jia, that monitors the global smartphone industry at research company Canalys.
Tech investors will nevertheless be seeing its reception in China to gauge the way demand for customer devices may rebound when the coronavirus pandemic subsides and whether iPhone earnings in China can soften the blow of lost purchases everywhere.
China is the only major market where Apple's shops have reopened as the spread of the virus prompts governments across the globe to inflict lockdowns and other social distancing measures.
Government data revealed that Apple sent 2.5 million iPhones to Chinese vendors in March, nearly a fifth higher than the same month a year earlier and a sharp jump from just 500,000 in February, once the virus epidemic was at its peak in China.
The business will begin taking orders for the telephone on its site on Friday, with deliveries expected from April 24.
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