Chinese phonemakers upgrade services and systems for shopping season
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are improving their services and systems in anticipation of upcoming shopping sprees and events such as Singles Day campaign.
Domestic giants like Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo have unveiled their lastest major and flagship devices this month, boasting enhancements in artificial intelligence, battery life, camera quality, and system performance.
Meanwhile, Apple is not expected to introduce its AI features in China until next year, thereby creating an opportunity for Chinese brands to capture a larger share in the mid-to-high-end market segments.
OPPO, the world's No.4 vendor in the third quarter, announced the next-generation system ColorOS 15 on Thursday. It includes several hundred AI features added "from lab research to practical use."
The new system will be adopted in the coming flagship models like OPPO X8 and OnePlus 13 to release next week, OPPO said in its annual developer conference held on Thursday.
The highlights of the new system include smooth operation, AI features like one click to remove glass reflections and a new file swap technology across devices. In 2024, 50 million OPPO users have used generative AI functions, it said.
Vivo, the top player in the domestic smartphone market, launched its premium X200 series on Monday. It features MediaTek's new 3-nanometre processor, a 200-mega-pixel camera with Live Photo feature and a lightweight battery with improved capacity. The models will be in stores on Saturday with a starting price of 4,299 yuan (US$614).
Vivo said the "PhoneGPT era" is coming as smartphone vendors add ChatGPT-like AI services to devices. The company said this means localized AI capabilities with personalized experiences and better privacy protection.
Comparatively, Apple's widely expected AI features will be available next year in China, leaving holiday season opportunities to local brands.
"The holiday shopping season is coming and vendors are looking to attract consumers who have postponed upgrading their devices in anticipation of deals during major events like Singles Day and Black Friday. The gap between the top five vendors has narrowed, intensifying the competitive landscape," said Le Xuan Chiew, an analyst at researcher Canalys.
In the third quarter, the top five brands globally were Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo, according to Canalys. Samsung and Apple tied for top spot, each with an 18% share. The five companies combined for 68 percent of the market.
In China, brands like Huawei, Honor and OnePlus will also launch new models next week. For example, Huawei will hold its autumn release conference next Tuesday in Shenzhen.