2024-0911 [Financial Times]: Huawei takes on Apple in China with $2,800 trifold phone
The Financial Times interviewed Professor Tsay about the smartphone competitive landscape in China, in the news due to the dueling product announcement events held by Apple and Huawei this week.
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....Andy Tsay, professor of information systems and analytics at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, said the Mate XT was “not really a direct competitor” to Apple’s iPhone 16, noting that its large size when unfolded made it unwieldy to use with one hand.
He said it was too early to judge whether the phone was a success from the pre-order volume, noting that the rate of product return and resale value was a truer test of “staying power”.
But he added: “There is no denying that this phone adds to Huawei’s momentum and positions the company as a scrappy innovator with swagger.” ....
Experts said Huawei had tapped into the so-called guochao, or “national trend”, movement in which companies incorporate nationalistic branding to celebrate Chinese culture.
“If a Chinese brand can become a means to lift morale and express pride in one’s nation, culture and distinct aesthetic sensibilities, Huawei is smart to lean into this,” said Tsay.