[Report] "I Came at 1 AM" In China, Love for iPhone Remains Unchanged

Despite US-China Conflict and Huawei's 'Patriotic Consumption' Trend...
Preference for Sophisticated Image and High-Spec iPhones Remains Strong
Cheering and Enjoying the Scene After Countdown

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Wow!"

At 8 a.m. on the 22nd, at the Apple flagship store in Sanlitun, Beijing, China. On an early morning that would normally be quiet, hundreds of people in front of the store continued to cheer along with a countdown. Apple's latest smartphone, the iPhone 15, began offline sales that day, and those who came to purchase started entering the store with excited expressions.

The first person in line was a 17-year-old high school student who said he had been waiting since 1 a.m. and "did not go to school today to buy the iPhone." He was holding a Huawei product in his hand. Liu Mo, a graduate student in his 30s, said, "I like that there is a color I have never seen before," adding, "If you buy and carry this kind of product, you can immediately tell that it is the latest model different from the previous ones."

On the morning of the first day of offline sales of Apple's 'iPhone 15' in China, at 8 a.m. on the 22nd, visitors lined up waiting for the opening of the Apple flagship store in Sanlitun, Beijing, China. (Photo by Kim Hyunjung)

On the morning of the 22nd at 8 a.m., the first day of offline sales of Apple's 'iPhone 15' in China, visitors are filming the site while waiting for the opening of the Apple flagship store in Sanlitun, Beijing, China. (Photo by Kim Hyunjung)

Interest from middle-aged and older customers was also evident on site. Mrs. Li, a housewife in her 60s, said, "My granddaughter said she wanted it many times, so I specially came to the store," adding, "First of all, the design is pretty, so young people would probably like it." Mr. Wang, in his 40s and working at an information technology (IT) company, said, "I plan to buy the iPhone 15 Max Pro," explaining, "It's my first time buying a phone in three years." When asked about the reason for the purchase, he replied, "Because I have been using iPhones continuously and am familiar with them."

Since Huawei released its latest smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, equipped with a self-supplied 7nm (nanometer, one billionth of a meter) semiconductor on the 29th of last month, voices of support for Huawei have poured out within China. Soon after, Apple’s iPhone 15 was released, and the sales competition between these models has taken on the character of a proxy war amid the US-China conflict.

Although there were quite a few people waiting, the pre-prepared queue fences from the front entrance to the back door of the store were somewhat empty. When asked whether there were more people compared to previous iPhone series launches, Apple employee Xiang Runze said, "It is very difficult to say whether there are more or fewer," and avoided giving a direct answer by saying, "Please check with your own eyes."

At around 7:50 a.m. on the 22nd, the queue fence set up at the Apple flagship store in Sanlitun, Beijing, China, appeared somewhat sparse. (Photo by Kim Hyunjung)

Prior to this, interest in the iPhone was also intense during the pre-order on the 15th. At that time, Apple’s official website was down for about 6 to 7 minutes after 8 a.m., and on Taobao’s official Apple Store, all units sold out in less than a minute. Apple reportedly replenished stock nine times over the next 30 minutes to meet demand. On JD.com, all four models of the iPhone 15 received over 3 million pre-orders on its online Apple Store. Additionally, Meituan, a delivery company that has agreements with more than 5,000 Apple retail stores across China, also started pre-sales last week, selling 200 million yuan worth of products in just 30 minutes. Alibaba-owned delivery app Ele.me partnered with 3,000 retail stores and began deliveries on the 22nd.

On the morning of the 22nd at 8 a.m., sales of the latest smartphone, the 'iPhone 15,' began at the official Apple Store in China, where a visitor at the Beijing Sanlitun flagship store is listening to an explanation about the product. (Photo by Kim Hyunjung)

On the morning of the 22nd at 8 a.m., sales of the latest smartphone, the 'iPhone 15,' began at the official Apple Store in China, where visitors at the Beijing Sanlitun flagship store are examining the product. (Photo by Kim Hyunjung)

However, the support for Huawei and the patriotic consumption trend are also strong. Mr. Zhang, who came to the store to upload videos to Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), said, "I came because I saw reports that the latest chip is installed and wanted to experience it once," adding, "I will upload videos checking reaction speed and image quality." He also said, "From a brief look, I don’t feel a big difference from previous products," and introduced that the phone he is currently using is Huawei’s Mate 40 Pro. He said, "Chinese people support Huawei," and "Buying Huawei products is equivalent to loving China."

Chinese media reported that iPhone sales are expected to fall short of past expectations. Kuaikeji said, "The iPhone 15 series has almost no changes in appearance, only changes in frame material and color." Zhao Ming, CEO of Honor, stated, "Although iPhone 15 sales will still be very high this year, the company needs to respond more strongly in a situation where consumer and industry expectations have lowered."

Chinese economic media Caixin predicted that Huawei’s smartphone shipments this year will reach about 38 million units, a 65% increase compared to last year. It further forecasted that next year’s shipments will exceed 60 million units, making Huawei the fastest-growing brand worldwide. The market is paying attention to whether Huawei can threaten Apple’s position, which held the number one market share (19.9%) in China’s smartphone market as of the first quarter. During the same period, Huawei’s market share was only 9.2%.