The Apple iPhone 13 is off to a good start in China, with more Chinese consumers rushing to order the newest gadget now compared to last year, based on early data cited in a report by the South China Morning Post.
China is one of Apple's most important markets, and the tech company is also expected to take advantage of a decline in the popularity of key rival, Huawei.
According to SCMP, Apple has more than 2 million orders of iPhone 13 in China. The orders were made from Apple's official store through e-commerce platform JD.com.
SCMP also disclosed that consumer interest appears to be on the rise on Alibaba's TMall platform, which begins accepting pre-orders on Friday.
Meanwhile, data cited by The Information show Apple is seen to benefit from market share in the U.S. as Android makers bore the brunt of the ongoing shortage in global microchip supply.
The iPhone 13 series is expected to become the standard high-end smartphone in China as a result of "Huawei's incapacity to provide equally compelling premium headsets," 9To5Mac said.
The iPhone 13 has a smaller display design at the top of the screen. The device also includes bigger batteries that provide the handset around 2.5 more hours of power than last year's lineup, Apple said.
Apple unveiled the iPhone 13 in an event Tuesday, sparking interest from millions of consumers around the world. The Cupertino, California-based tech company continues to be the leading smartphone seller in China after the recent struggles of Huawei.
Pricing for the iPhone 13 in China starts at 5,999 yuan, while the iPhone 13 Mini fetches for 5,199 yuan, and 7,999 yuan for the iPhone 13 Pro. That makes these gadgets around 300 yuan to 800 yuan cheaper compared to the corresponding models in the iPhone 12 series, reports say.
Weak competition in China is one of the major factors that pushed pre-orders up, according to reports. Huawei has continued to struggle under China's rigid trade restrictions and has not rolled out a similar premium phone, SCMP said.
Meanwhile, Apple shares retreated by less than 1% Friday, despite the positive news from China. Apple's stock has underperformed for 2021, shedding almost 8% of its value, year to date.
