The iPhone 14 plummeted, and Apple misestimated how much users attached to “change” – yqqlm

The regular version of the iPhone 14 may be the Apple mobile phone with the lowest presence this year.

　　Recently, there have been reports that the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus (withhereinafter referred to as iPhone 14 normal version) sales were lower than expected, and Apple could reduce inventories and orders for design components as soon as this month. In contrast, the iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max (hereinafter referred to as the “Pro Max”), due to the increasing market demand for the Pro series, Apple is also transferring production capacity from the non-Pro series to the Pro series models.

Facts have proved that this news does have a certain degree of authenticity.

As of press time, the main color (blue) 256GB version of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are in stock on the Apple Store, and can be obtained on the same day, and the price in the secondary market has dropped by about 800 yuan.

　　The release date of the iPhone 14 Plus is October 7, just over a week agogetSpot, for the new iPhone, it is really rare.

　　So, why the iPhone 14 regular versionNobody bought it?

The most popular iPhone 14, can’t walk anymore

The current situation of the iPhone 14 / 14 Plus is related to Apple’s positioning and innovation in the entire product.

If we compare the regular version of iPhone 14 and iPhone 13, except for the slight difference in size, the overall difference in design and hardware configuration is really very few.

In terms of appearance design, the regular version of the iPhone 14 still uses a notch screen, the rear camera adopts the diagonal design of the iPhone 13 series, the glass back panel and the aluminum alloy frame, and there is no innovation at all.

Moreover, what consumers criticize most is that the regular version of the iPhone 14 uses the same A15 processor as the iPhone 13. Although it is the version without castration performance on the 13Pro, for most consumers, the 20-core A15 is also It is still A15, A16 castrated into a single core, it is also A16, there is a clear gap.

In contrast, MOTO’s Razr 2022 is equipped with a down-frequency version of the Snapdragon 8+. Although the actual running score is similar to that of the Snapdragon 870, it is at least 8+. Most users who buy Razr 2022 don’t care whether it is downclocked or not. Isn’t this better than the previous 10,000-plus flagship with Snapdragon 765G?

Cook wrongly estimated how much the Chinese market attaches importance to “change”.

However, the “Waterloo” of the regular version of the iPhone 14 also made the sales of the iPhone 14 Pro/Max soar.From another point of view, maybe the iPhone 14 regular versionIt might be “cannon fodder”.

　　with iPhone 14/14 PlusDifferent, the iPhone 14 Pro series adopts a new “pill” screen, and the new Smart Island UI design lays the groundwork for the appearance design and operation logic of the iPhone Pro/Max in the next few years. Coupled with the latest A16 series processors, it will be even more powerful. This product is on the cusp, with the iPhone 14 regular versionIt is more like the product of two generations apart.

With the support of many parties, this year’s iPhone 14 Pro series products are in short supply.

In my opinion, consumers’ purchase of the iPhone 14 Pro with “Smart Island” is not so much the result of Apple’s innovation.It is better to say that consumers are buying the appearance design in the next 2 to 3 years.

Apple really hasn’t come up with anything eye-catching in the past two years.

In addition to the regular hardware upgrades on the previous generation iPhone 13 Pro/Max, Apple took out the ProMotion function previously used on the iPad Pro, which is the adaptive refresh rate we often hear. Although it sounds very advanced, Android Mobile phones have long popularized high-brush, and Apple just increased the refresh rate and made it adjustable.

　　Unfortunately, what consumers perceive stronger is not the variable refresh rate, but the real improvement of the highest refresh rate of 120Hz.But this feature has long been popular on Android phones, and Apple can only be regarded as: “old wine in a new bottle.”

On the iPhone 14 Pro/Max, Apple has only added a “Smart Island” in an attempt to use software to change hardware sales. However, after the user’s actual hands-on experience, this function is not as beautiful as imagined, and it does not bring real breakthroughs and innovations to consumers. Instead, it looks better than Liu Haier in the process of watching movies or games. “An eyesore”.

Consumers buy the iPhone 14 Pro/Max because they think that Apple will basically not have major innovations in the next 2-3 years, and the iPhone 14 Pro/Max will be enough for the next few years.

Apple, which lacks innovation, can only focus on “changing the shell”

Friends who have paid attention to the development of the mobile phone field must have heard the phrase “technology is based on shell replacement”.

This stalk, in fact, has existed for many years. It was born out of the classic Nokia slogan “Technology is people-oriented”. It is used to ridicule manufacturers for not making breakthroughs in the core competitiveness of products, but focusing on all kinds of fancy colors or appearances. , used to distinguish product models and positioning.

When this sentence appears more and more frequently, it means that the innovation power in the current industry has been seriously insufficient.

　　iPhone 14 regular versionIt is the representative of this sentence. In addition to the new color matching and new size, consumers can’t find any reason to buy these two products at all. They just rely on the name “New iPhone” to cut consumers’ leeks and push themselves to the opposite of consumers.

　　iPhone 14 regular versionThe launch and market feedback reminded me of the era when Cook just launched the iPhone 6 series. Rather than simply speaking of the iPhone 6 era, it is better to speak of the period from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 8.

Due to Apple’s lack of innovation, Apple’s overall operation at that time was more catering to the needs of the market rather than starting from the direction of product innovation, which once led to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S becoming Apple’s “nail house” .

In addition to Apple, Android manufacturers have also fallen into the trough of innovation. Because domestic mobile phone manufacturers have released too many products, even the appearance design step has been omitted. They directly choose to replace the latest chip, and then make some small changes. A brand new product model.

“Technology is based on changing the shell” has become “technology is based on changing the core”.

Earlier, I wrote a[“机海”战术看不到结尾]In the article, many manufacturers in order to maintain the continuity of the sea of ​​​​machine tactics, new products are only changed with minor changes and put on the shelves. Complete pedigree development, the product designs of each sub-brand learn from each other, the configuration is the same, and the product homogeneity is serious.

This set of gameplay is no problem in the period of rapid development of the domestic mobile phone market, but the times are changing. Today’s mobile phone market is already in a “slump”. Affected by the general environment, the user’s replacement cycle has become significantly longer, and this set of gameplay has not worked. .

The mobile phone market is in a “slump”, how can manufacturers help themselves?

The domestic mobile phone market has approached saturation.

The China Academy of Communications previously released data on domestic mobile phone shipments from January to May 2022. The data shows that the total domestic mobile phone shipments totaled 108 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 27.1%.

　　And a few days ago,The market research institution CINNO Research also released a domestic mobile phone sales data, and the demand for the entire domestic mobile phone market continued to decline. In August 2022, the sales volume of smartphones in the Chinese mainland market was about 20.44 million units, a decrease of 7.4% month-on-month compared with July and a year-on-year decrease of 26%. Since February this year, it has recorded a negative year-on-year growth for the seventh consecutive month. Worst monthly sales in August since 2015.

Taking specific mobile phone manufacturers as an example, in August 2022, Honor sold 3.6 million smartphones in the mainland market, a year-on-year decrease of 14.4% and a month-on-month increase of 4.3%. OPPO sold 3.5 million smartphones, a year-on-year decrease of 38.3% and a month-on-month decrease of 6.3%. Vivo’s smartphone sales in mainland China were 3.2 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 37.2% and a month-on-month decrease of 7.7%. Apple sold 2.7 million smartphones in the mainland market, down 0.2% year-on-year and down 12.9% month-on-month. Xiaomi sold 2.5 million smartphones in mainland China, down 40.3% year-on-year and 21.4% month-on-month.

In addition to Apple and Honor, the August sales of OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi all fell by more than 37% year-on-year in 2021.

All the signals are telling everyone that the mobile phone market has fallen into weakness.

As the development bottleneck in the mobile phone field becomes more and more obvious, the only way to make a bigger breakthrough in the mobile phone market is to rely on the technological innovation of mobile phone manufacturers. At present, Android mobile phone manufacturers are betting on folding screen mobile phones. They want to make a comeback with the high-end attributes and technological attributes of folding screen mobile phones. Except for Xiaomi, Samsung, etc. to change direction, from crease to thin and light, other manufacturers seem to have no idea. .

Some time ago, vivo launched a new folding screen flagship, vivo X Fold+. In addition to upgrading the chip from Snapdragon 8Gen1 to Snapdragon 8+Gen1, only the color matching has changed. The overall mobile phone is still thick and heavy, which is really difficult to consume. The person raises the desire to buy.

From the launch of the product, we can clearly feel the development intention of the manufacturer. If domestic mobile phone manufacturers still make products according to the previous style of play, they will consolidate themselves through the tactics of the sea and the methods of “changing the shell” and “changing the core”. Brand status, this road is undoubtedly difficult to get through.

There is an old saying, “Heroes in troubled times”.

The more stagnant the mobile phone market is, the better opportunity it is for manufacturers. To come up with unique, innovative products, in order to emerge from the mediocrity.

Previously, Nothing Phone (1) was well-received by consumers and the media, precisely because of its unrestrained imagination and courage to practice. This direction is also feasible in China. For domestic mobile phone manufacturers, products and innovation are the fundamentals that can truly gain a firm foothold in the market. In the current mobile phone market environment, the idea of ​​maintaining stability is not desirable.

In a period of continuous downturn in the mobile phone market, it is a problem that all manufacturers have to face.