A LOWER price tag and new features may not be enough for Apple Inc. to win customers for its newly-launched iPhone 11 series in China, the world’s largest smartphone market that is already crowded with cheaper and feature-packed rival handsets.

Apple’s unveiling of three new iPhones in California met with a limp reaction yesterday from analysts and on social media in China, where the U.S. giant has been losing ground to competitors in recent years.

“More competitive aggressive pricing and a better camera would be its selling points, but the market is still full of challenges, both market competition and macroeconomic factors,” said Will Wong, who tracks China’s phone market at research firm IDC.

The iPhone 11 will have two back cameras, including an ultra wide-angle lens and the next generation of microchips, the A13. Prices start at US$699, down from last year’s new iPhone that started at US$749. Apple also dropped the price of last year’s equivalent model iPhone XR by US$150.

The more expensive iPhone 11 Pro will have three cameras on the back and starts at US$999. The bigger screen iPhone 11 Pro Max starts at US$1,099.

As anticipated, none will be fifth generation-enabled, which puts the phones a step behind 5G models already released by Huawei Technologies and smaller rival Vivo.

One meme doing the rounds on social media featured Apple chief executive Tim Cook bragging about the new features and Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, shutting him down by pointing out that Huawei has had those features for years.

Apple’s share of the China market in the June quarter fell to 5.8 percent from 6.4 percent in the year earlier period, according to research firm Canalys, as Huawei experienced a surge in support from Chinese consumers after the brand was caught up in a trade dispute between China and the United States.

Counterpoint analyst Neil Shah said the entry price, while lowered by Apple, remains high compared to local rivals. Combined with the lack of 5G, that made the new iPhones “less attractive and future-proof” for Chinese consumers, Shah said.

The new phones will be available to order Friday and start shipping Sept. 20.(SD-Agencies)