Apple hasn’t been having a great time in China as of late. Last week, the company posted its fourth consecutive revenue drop in the region it calls “Greater China,” even as the company’s global revenue climbed. Over the past year, it has struggled with bad PR issues like exploding phones, and seen domestic rival Oppo surpass the iPhone to take the number one spot in the market. Tim Cook says he doesn’t expect next quarter’s numbers to look “dramatically different,” either.
But of course, every new year brings a new iPhone handset, and a new chance for Apple to impress China’s consumers. Here’s what Apple needs to do with the next iPhone to turn things around.
Copyright: zilvergolf / 123RF Stock Photo
1. Emphasize the eight
Although the 7 just came out last year, rumor has it this year’s iPhone will be called the iPhone 8. Given that this will also be the tenth anniversary of the original iPhone’s release, it makes sense – Apple probably will want to celebrate with something a bit more innovative and new than the “7S” moniker would suggest, so skipping 7S and going straight to eight seems likely.
That’s good news for Greater China sales, because the number eight is considered especially auspicious in Chinese culture (here’s why). License plates with lucky eights in them sell for exorbitant prices in both mainland China and Hong Kong. China scheduled its Olympics to start on 8/8/08, and thousands of soon-to-be mothers scheduled C-sections for that day too, hoping their children could be born on what some felt was the luckiest day of the century.
In short: China loves the number eight. So regardless of the phone Apple actually builds, the iPhone 8 is guaranteed to generate some interest in China simply by virtue of its name. But Apple can amplify this effect if it’s able to come up with a good enough marketing campaign. I’m no marketing expert, but my suggestion: something that nods subtly to the auspiciousness of eight in traditional Chinese culture while emphasizing how the iPhone 8 is a marriage of Apple’s own tradition (ten years of iPhones) and the latest-and-greatest in smartphone tech.
2. Really redesign
L to R: iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone SE. Image credit: Apple
Let’s be honest: visually speaking, there’s not a huge difference between an iPhone 7, an iPhone 6S, and an iPhone 6. That’s fine – there have been improvements under the hood – but it’s hard to get too excited about a new phone when it doesn’t look all that new. This is particularly true in China, where iPhones are expensive enough that in some circles they’re still a sort of status symbol. Having the latest iPhone makes you look cool (with a certain crowd), but only if they can actually tell it’s the new one. So the more visually different the iPhone 8’s design is, the better.
Thankfully, the early rumors suggest that Apple is on top of this one. Rumor has it the company is considering both a curved AMOLED screen and a curved glass back for the iPhone 8. If it follows through, that would certainly set the iPhone 8 apart from previous models visually, which might make it a more exciting prospect to Chinese users than the last few iPhone generations that have all looked pretty similar.
3. More WeChat integration
This one might be a tough pill to swallow for the Apple boardroom, considering that WeChat’s mini-apps seem aimed at helping Tencent eat Apple’s lunch. But if you want to offer services to Chinese net users, you can’t ignore WeChat. Virtually everyone on China’s mobile web uses the app, and they use it a lot.
Apple hasn’t ignored WeChat, of course – there’s WeChat-Siri integration and some WeChat integration with iMessages, among other things. But if Apple really wants to wow Chinese customers and beat out China’s domestic rivals, it probably has the financial resources and brand clout to work out some kind of deal with Tencent for even deeper, Apple-exclusive integration features. At a time when Apple’s having trouble setting its phones apart from domestic competitors in terms of features, an exclusive partnership with Tencent could help it demonstrate to customers why the iPhone 8 is worth paying extra for even when local rivals offer the same specs at lower price points.
Yes, Apple has been having a rough time in China. But, even as an occasionally outspoken Apple critic, I think the company has a great opportunity to turn things around with the iPhone 8 and regain some of the ground it has lost. Whether it will seize that opportunity remains to be seen, but after four straight quarters of dipping revenue, Apple must be looking at ways it can turn the ship around.
This is an opinion piece.
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