While most smartphone users don’t really consider China much more than a factory for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices, they have made several kinds of mobile phones in the past. Some were fairly conventional, while others offered novel gimmicks to catch attention. Now, Chinese mobile device development is getting serious. Apple now has some real competition, and that may cost Apple its supremacy in one of its biggest markets. Yet shareholders don’t appear worried, as Apple is up somewhat in Monday afternoon trading.
Several such devices and device makers will make their way to the Mobile World Congress event, which starts today. Among them is Xiaomi, a Chinese maker whose eponymous Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro models are said to be on par with an iPhone. Moreover, its prices are roughly the same as Apple’s. Apple launched some price cuts in China to help get customers in the door. The iPhone 14 currently costs $115 in China, which is actually less than the cost of a refurbished 64 gig iPhone 8 on eBay.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro has some chance of outperforming the Samsung Galaxy S23, according to some reports. Xiaomi’s higher-end phones offer multiple advantages, including high-speed charging as well as wireless charging. Wired charging took a Xiaomi device from 3% charge to 100% in around 21 minutes. With a Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor under the hood, it’s got the chops to at least put on a good showing against Apple and Samsung devices. Tech stocks are entering a period of vastly increased competition.
Nevertheless, Wall Street isn’t even somewhat phased by this new development. Analyst consensus calls Apple stock a Strong Buy. Further, with an average price target of $171.94, AAPL has 15.87% upside potential.
