New Smartphone Launches Struggle to Gain Traction as Apple's iPhone Sales Surge

The latter half of the month saw intense competition among flagship models, with vivo debuting the X500 series, closely followed by OPPO's Find X10 series. Xiaomi also launched two new bar-style flagships, the Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, while Honor released three new models: the Magic9 Pro Max, the standard Magic9, and the Magic9 Ultra. A striking feature of these offerings is the significant price increases across the board.

The Huawei Mate XT2 is priced at 24,999 yuan, and the Xiaomi 18 Fold costs 14,999 yuan. The iPhone Duo's 2TB version retails for 26,499 yuan, with the vivo X500 series seeing price hikes of 1,100 to 2,800 yuan, starting at 5,499 yuan. OPPO's Find X10 series held its initial pricing but still experienced an overall increase of 1,100 to 2,300 yuan. Xiaomi's 18 Pro series faced the steepest price increase within its lineup, ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 yuan, while Honor kept its price hikes more modest, between 500 and 800 yuan.

The efficacy of these price adjustments remains to be seen as first-day sales data reveals lackluster performance for Android brands. The first-day sales of the Xiaomi 18 Pro series were only about 30% of its predecessor, marking a 70% decline. Similarly, the OPPO Find X10 series achieved only around 40% of the previous Find X9 series sales volume.

Although specific figures were not disclosed for the vivo X500 series, reports indicated a significant drop in sales compared to older models. A salesperson from vivo noted a lack of customer interest and many potential buyers expressed intentions to wait before making a purchase, particularly after the price increases. Consumers were reportedly dissatisfied with the removal of certain RAM configurations, prompting vivo to reintroduce options days after the launch.

In stark contrast, Apple's iPhone 18 Pro series recorded approximately 322,800 units sold on the first day, representing about 130% of the iPhone 17 Pro series' first-day performance. Notably, the Pro Max version accounted for 55.5% of those sales. Apple's consistent pricing strategy in the high-end market seems to resonate effectively with consumers, placing Apple at the forefront with a 31.3% market share in the week of September 14-20, ahead of rivals.

The price hikes in the Android segment have not only impacted flagship sales but have also led to a notable decrease in the availability of budget smartphones in the market. Many consumers have reported difficulty finding entry-level devices priced below 2,000 yuan. Data from IDC shows a significant decline in the share of phones priced under 1,000 yuan, dropping from 22% in 2023 to 2.7% in early 2026.

Manufacturers have responded by ceasing launches of new budget phones priced at 999 yuan, adjusting new entry-level devices to start at 1,299 yuan or higher. Average selling prices in the smartphone market have similarly increased from 2,685 yuan in 2019 to around 4,000 yuan in 2024, largely due to rising costs of components including memory chips.

With major domestic brands elevating their price points, Apple's pricing power in the high-end smartphone market appears to strengthen. As competition heats up, domestic manufacturers are leaning towards integrating advanced AI capabilities in a bid to differentiate their devices from Apple. However, many of these features are still perceived as supplementary rather than essential by consumers, which raises questions about their effectiveness in retaining or attracting users.

In this evolving landscape, Apple holds a strong position, continuing to capitalize on its robust user ecosystem, while domestic brands face the pressing challenge of redefining their value propositions as they face heightened scrutiny over rising prices and dwindling budget options.