Apple iPhone 17 goes on sale as questions stay over China market, AI technique

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A buyer holds up the brand new orange-colored iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphone inside an Apple retail retailer in Chongqing, China, on September 19, 2025.

Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The iPhone 17 hit retailer cabinets worldwide on Friday, drawing traces from Beijing to London.

But past the launch buzz, Apple is beneath stress to show itself, grappling with questions over its synthetic intelligence plans, in addition to growing competitors. 

Products on show for the primary time embrace the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, in addition to new Apple Watch and AirPods fashions.

While they had been out there for preorders within the U.S. from Sept. 12, the worldwide launch holds explicit significance as Apple takes on rising competitors in abroad markets. 

China competitors

One of these markets is China, the place prospects waited for hours — and even in a single day — to get their arms on the brand new iPhone 

First in line on the Apple flagship Store in Sanlitun, Beijing, this morning, was Liu — he didn’t want to be recognized by his full identify — who instructed CNBC that he had been queuing since 11 p.m. native time Thursday for his probability to select up the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

He stated he was excited concerning the smartphone’s new coloration and exterior design, which Apple says has improved the cellphone’s warmth dissipation. 

Notably, Liu additionally stated he has modified to Apple from Huawei lately, saying he most popular the iPhone for each day use and leisure. 

Another particular person, who wished to be recognized solely by his surname, Yang — an erstwhile Xiaomi consumer — stated he had been ready to get his arms on the most recent iPhone, preferring its working system. 

Both Liu and Yang anticipate many Chinese residents to purchase their first iPhone this yr because of the new options, together with bigger inner storage. 

WSJ’s Tim Higgins: Apple is facing a situation similar to the one Microsoft faced a generation ago

If that development had been to pan out, it might be welcome information for Apple, which has misplaced market share in China to gamers similar to Huawei and Xiaomi. 

After years of management within the area, the iPhone-maker now solely holds 10% of the Chinese smartphone market, trailing native gamers like Oppo, Huawei, Xiaomi and others, based on data from Omdia.

So far, the indicators are optimistic for the iPhone 17 collection in China. Last Friday, JD.com — one among China’s largest ecommerce platforms — noticed the primary minute of iPhone 17 collection preorders surpass the first-day preorder quantity of final yr’s iPhone 16 collection, the corporate reported

At 10 a.m. native time on Friday, JD.com stated that iPhone 7 trade-in gross sales had been 4 instances greater than the identical interval final yr.

Other markets 

In the a lot smaller however prosperous market of Singapore, the redesigned iPhone 17s had been additionally met with fervor, with lengthy traces forming exterior Apple retailers throughout town. 

Iman Isa and Daniel Muhamed Nuv, two younger professionals in Singapore, had each queued for hours at Apple’s outlet within the metropolis’s iconic Marina Bay mall to purchase iPhone 17 Pros, which they stated had been their first new telephones in years. 

Citing the contemporary design, longer battery life and improved digicam, they stated the brand new telephones provide sufficient to maintain them loyal to the Apple ecosystem.

Lines had been even longer at an outlet in Singapore’s Orchard, the city-state’s major purchasing heart, with a separate queue for individuals who had preordered.

Based on preorder instances and client suggestions, the preliminary world demand for the iPhone 17 collection seems largely optimistic, stated Le Xuan Chiew, a analysis supervisor at Omdia.

The iPhone 17 base mannequin specifically has outperformed expectations, because the pricing at launch remained unchanged from its predecessor regardless of upgrades in reminiscence storage, Chiew stated. 

In Singapore, prospects arriving at Apple retailers had additionally been trying to nab among the firm’s new AirPods Pro 3, citing the product’s stay translation characteristic as a serious promoting level.

Apple intelligence 

A profitable iPhone 17 launch might assist reassure Apple buyers after a considerably underwhelming rollout of its synthetic intelligence options, which began late final yr.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” final week, Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, lauded Apple’s newest product launches however stated the corporate now wanted to ship on synthetic intelligence. 

'Apple need to deliver on AI': says analyst

“There is no question that Apple needs to deliver on AI,” he stated, noting that the corporate had “dropped the ball” final yr by making large guarantees that didn’t materialize.

“Apple has to catch up [in AI], but right now, I think they’ve got enough runway to be able to cope in the intervening period.”

– CNBC’s Eunice Yoon contributed to this report


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