Chatter about the iPhone 7 launch on Chinese microblog Weibo has been far more muted than when the iPhone 6 debuted in 2014. An index of searches on Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU), China's most popular search engine, shows the new phone lagging both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5.
Apple's Greater China sales dropped by a third in April-June, albeit after more than doubling a year earlier, while its market share has fallen to around 7.8 percent, placing it fifth behind local rivals Huawei, OPPO and Vivo.
Apple has been slower to adapt, consumers and analysts say: the new iPhone has few major changes to win over fickle shoppers and the firm's marketing has been generic.
"From Steve Jobs to Tim Cook, Apple has never had any marketing strategy tailor-made for China," said Zhou Zhanggui, a Beijing-based strategic consultant.
"Apple risks losing out more if it does not better cater to local demands in its marketing as well as product design." |