Can a budget phone help Apple overtake Huawei in China?

Apple offered the latest version of its budget friendly phone for pre-sale in key markets on Friday, in an effort to woo customers in price-sensitive countries like China and India.

Apple offered the latest version of its budget friendly phone for pre-sale in key markets on Friday, in an effort to woo price-sensitive customers in countries like China and India. The launch of the iPhone 16e, which costs $599 and is equipped with artificial intelligence, came in the same week that Chinese rival Huawei rolled out its flagship trifold phone in a rare overseas launch event. Apple’s iPhone 16 starts at $799. Analysts said the mid-range pricing strategy and earlier-than-expected release reflects Apple’s effort to boost adoption in lower-end markets. The new handset replaces the SE series and is Apple’s first lower-price model since 2022. “The 16e is a big step up from the SE and aligns more closely with market demand in that upper mid-end segment but China is hyper competitive, especially in that price range,” Archie Zhang, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, a market analysis firm, told CNN. In China, Apple’s second most-largest market, homegrown giant Huawei has made a stunning comeback after being pummeled by American sanctions since 2019. According to data from Canalys, a market research firm, Huawei overtook the Cupertino-based tech giant last year with 16% market share, compared to Apple’s 15%. In 2023, Apple was comfortably ahead with 19% market share, compared to Huawei’s 12%. Last year, the iPhone maker introduced its Apple Intelligence, which has so far released its AI service to limited English-speaking markets, including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Chinese tech giant Alibaba said last week that Apple had chosen to work with it in rolling out its AI features in China, though the release date remains unclear.