On September 20th, as the first day of the sales battle between Huawei and Apple's new phones, Huaqiangbei, a well-known electronic product trading center in China and even globally, was bustling with activity.
On the streets, scalpers selling the iPhone16 could be seen everywhere, enthusiastically soliciting every passerby in an attempt to sell their new phones. In contrast, Huawei's new product, Mate XT, is more scarce, but there are also available stocks being sold.
From the prices offered by these scalpers, the outside world can catch a glimpse of the market feedback for the latest products from these two mobile phone giants.
The iPhone16, which is generally considered as &#34;squeezing toothpaste&#34; with the main highlight being the newly added physical camera button, did not see the frenzy of previous years. According to a price list obtained by Time Finance from a distributor, apart from some models of the iPhone 16 ProMax which have a price increase of over a thousand yuan, the prices of the vast majority of models remain stable, with only small price increases.
The scalper prices for the 128GB version of the iPhone16 and iPhone16 Plus are basically the same as the official prices, with only a slight increase of around 50 yuan for the 256GB version. As for the most anticipated Pro series each year, the price increase for the 128GB and 256GB versions is only around 300 to 400 yuan.
Moreover, some models have already dropped below the launch price. For example, the 512GB version of the iPhone16 is priced at 8950 yuan for all colors, which is 49 yuan lower than the official price of 8999 yuan; the 512GB version of the iPhone16 Plus is similarly priced at 9950 yuan for all colors, which is 49 yuan lower than the official price of 9999 yuan.
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Price list for the iPhone16 series at Huaqiangbei on September 20th, source: provided by interviewees
And this is just the situation for available stocks. If consumers are willing to wait, after a round of subsidy wars on multiple e-commerce platforms, the prices will be even lower. Especially on Pinduoduo, the subsidized price for the iPhone 16 is 5399 yuan, a direct reduction of 600 yuan from the official price; the subsidized price for the 512GB version of the iPhone 16 Plus on Pinduoduo is 8999 yuan, a direct reduction of 1000 yuan from the official price.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from TF International Securities wrote in his analysis that the key reason for the lower-than-expected demand for the iPhone 16 series may be that the Apple Intelligence, which was supposed to be the biggest selling point of this series, could not be launched along with the product. At the same time, the intense competition in the Chinese market continues to affect consumer demand for the iPhone
This was already evident during the pre-sale phase before the release. According to Guo Mingchi's calculations, the estimated pre-order sales of the iPhone 16 series in the first weekend are about 37 million units, a decrease of about 12.7% compared to the iPhone 15 series last year.
Compared to the weak demand for the iPhone 16 series new phones in the market, the Huawei Mate XT foldable phone saw a much higher increase in scalping prices on the first day of sale.
The product had already attracted over 6.85 million reservations online. And on the morning of September 20th at 10:08 AM, in less than a minute after online sales started, the Huawei Mate XT was completely sold out on platforms such as JD.com, Taobao, and Douyin.
Even in Huaqiangbei, the Huawei Mate XT is not commonly seen. Unlike iPhones that can be seen everywhere on the streets, consumers find it difficult to directly see scalpers selling Huawei Mate XT on the streets, even in authorized Huawei stores, they cannot directly see or purchase the product in stock.
Times Finance only saw three Huawei Mate XT devices lined up together at the entrance of Yuanwang Digital City in Huaqiangbei. Since the products were unsealed, the three black 512GB Huawei Mate XT devices were priced at a discounted rate compared to new products, but still as high as 41,000 yuan each, which is 19,000 yuan higher than the selling price of 22,000 yuan.
A scalper revealed to Times Finance that he did not have brand new unopened Huawei Mate XT products in hand and needed to source them. In terms of pricing, in the afternoon of September 20th, the black 512GB in-stock devices were priced at 46,000 yuan each, which is 24,000 yuan higher than the selling price; the more popular ruby red 512GB model was even more expensive by another 2,000 yuan, reaching an astonishing 48,000 yuan.
The extremely high popularity of the Mate XT even exceeded Huawei's expectations. Early on September 20th, Richard Yu, Chairman of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, appeared at the Huawei flagship store on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai to participate in the new phone delivery ceremony and stated on-site that the sales of the foldable phone far exceeded expectations, and the team is working overtime to expand production capacity.
Due to the high market demand, Guo Mingchi also raised his forecast for the shipment volume of the Huawei Mate XT foldable phone from 500,000 units to 1 million units. However, Guo Mingchi also emphasized that considering the estimated global shipment volume of foldable screen phones in 2024 has been revised down from 30 million units to 15 million units, and there have been cases of rapid decline in demand for past Huawei flagship models after release, the market still needs to pay attention to whether the demand heat can be sustained

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In Huaqiangbei, there is intense competition in the sales of new Apple and Huawei phones. Some models of the iPhone 16 are priced below the launch price, with scalpers offering stable prices and some models being marked up by no more than 400 yuan. The Huawei Mate XT, on the other hand, is relatively scarce, with mixed market reactions. E-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo have introduced subsidies to further reduce prices. Analysts believe that demand for the iPhone 16 series is lower than expected, possibly due to insufficient product highlights

- On September 20, the launch of the iPhone 16 and Huawei's Mate XT created a bustling atmosphere in Huaqiangbei, a major electronics market.  
- While iPhone 16 sales showed lower-than-expected demand, with prices remaining stable and some models even below retail, Huawei's Mate XT experienced high demand, selling out quickly online and commanding significantly higher prices.  
- Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo noted that the iPhone 16's lack of standout features and intense competition in China contributed to its weaker sales, while Huawei's Mate XT exceeded expectations, prompting an increase in production forecasts.

China Finance Online

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Apple and Huawei confront each other in Huaqiangbei: iPhone models are breaking prices, while Huawei's three folding models are marked up by up to 26,000 yuan