Apple's new budget iPhone gets lukewarm China reception

Apple's new budget iPhone gets lukewarm China reception

A social media poll suggests Apple's new budget iPhone, the SE, may not do much for the company's sales in China.

Julian Satterthwaite reports.

Apple has a new, lower price iPhone to show off.

But the SE model is already getting a thumbs down from one target market: Chinese shoppers.

In a poll conducted on the country's Weibo social media site 60% of about 350,000 respondents said they wouldn't buy it.

Only about a fifth of those surveyed were keen.

Price probably isn't the problem.

At $399 in the U.S. it's Apple's cheapest handset.

But it doesn't offer 5G connectivity, when many similarly priced phones in China do.

That bodes ill for Apple.

China is its third-largest market, generating about 15% of its sales.

But it's already seen its market share there shrink for several years.

Chinese consumers have been switching to Android-based phones from local brands.

With Apple yet to launch a 5G phone at any price, the competition is only getting tougher.

There is one positive for the tech giant though.

Right now China is the only major market where its stores have reopened following lockdowns.