Apple Live Show: Underestimating the IQ of Apple fans and insulting live streamers

On the evening of May 31st at 8pm, 618 officially kicked off, with major brands and top anchors launching special live broadcasts one after another, intensifying their fighting spirit. In the live streaming army, there is a noteworthy new face: Apple.

Apple, which has always been proud, has invested unprecedented enthusiasm in this year's 618. Not only did it start broadcasting in person, but it also participated in the promotion event for the first time in the form of official direct descent. Taking into account the unfavorable information of previous cuts, inventory increases, and share declines, Apple seems to have engraved the word "anxiety" on its forehead.

However, mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi and OPPO have long been familiar with the moves of live streaming and official demotion, and Apple may not be able to do better than them. From the premiere data, the response from "fruit fans" was not as enthusiastic as expected.

The mobile phone market continues to decline, and no one can be left alone - including Apple. Is there any new strategy for Cook to save and stimulate sales when the live broadcast premiere is cold?

Apple's low-key broadcast, "fruit fans" full screen seeking coupons

The first live broadcast of Apple started at 7pm on the 31st, and the number of likes soared to over 80000 within 5 minutes before the broadcast, which can be said to be a rare highlight. However, due to the short live broadcast time and insufficient pre promotion, the popularity of the entire live broadcast was quite limited. Official data shows that Apple's live streaming lasts about one hour and only has 1.28 million viewers. According to statistics, the sales volume of this live streaming guide is expected to exceed 100 million.

We can compare the first day results of other brands 618: Xiaomi's omnichannel payment amount exceeded 4.1 billion yuan, which is a significant lead, including AIoT and home appliance products; Honor MagicVs has become the sales champion of folding screen single products on JD and Tmall platforms, with sales of smartphones priced above 4000 yuan skyrocketing by 211% year-on-year; The OPPOReno10 series announced a net sales revenue of over 100 million within 10 minutes of its launch

Compared to these 618 veteran players, Apple's sales revenue of over 100 million may be a bit unbeatable. In addition to sales, the discussion heat on social media platforms is even more regrettable.

Did Apple actually live stream? I really didn't pay attention

Faced with the problems thrown away by the Institute of Value Research, Herman, who has been a fan for nearly 10 years since the iPhone 6, felt a bit confused. Like Herman, there are still many "fans" who are aware of Apple's upcoming broadcast, and Apple's live streaming on social platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu has not received much attention.

When some digital bloggers who have followed the live broadcast sent their articles for review, the comment area was also full of netizens with question marks. Only a few people left the message "Where is the live broadcast? Go to see the excitement". Most other netizens just took this opportunity to complain about Apple. Apple's live streaming debut may not be considered a complete failure, but it is certainly not a great success, and mediocrity may be the most appropriate adjective.

(Image from Weibo)

Leaving aside the data such as views and likes, we carefully reviewed the entire live broadcast of Apple, and there were indeed many slots.Among them, the three most mentioned points are: replacing live broadcasts with recorded broadcasts, anchors focusing on functional explanations without direct sales, and no coupons issued.

Replacing live streaming with recorded broadcasting may be related to the lack of professional anchors at Apple, making it difficult for the four internal employees who are pushing the ducks to the market to pick the big shots. From the recorded video, it can be seen that the four anchors are quite familiar with the features and highlights of Apple products. When introducing the movement and sleep functions of the AppleWatch, it is relatively smooth. Of course, it is not ruled out that multiple rehearsals and editing are the reasons.

However, adopting a recording format means that Apple has abandoned one of the most important aspects of live streaming e-commerce: interaction. The Value Research Institute has observed that there have been multiple instances of users asking questions and hosts not responding in live streaming rooms, which is why Apple firmly believes that it is using recorded broadcasts instead of live streaming.

The most frequently asked question by users is why they do not sell directly or issue coupons. Obviously, these two slots are even more unacceptable. Although there are links to 24 Apple products hanging in the live streaming room, the details page displays the phased interest free, official downgrade, and platform cross store discounts for the 618 event, and there are no coupons directly distributed in the live streaming room. More often than not, the entire screen is dominated by a single 'coupon' character, and the 'fruit fans' who come to watch express their dissatisfaction and doubts through their actions.

Of course, in addition to these main shortcomings, Apple has also not done enough in some details, indicating a lack of experience. For example, some netizens complained that customer service was unsure before the broadcast, and could not provide accurate answers to basic information such as coupon distribution and live broadcast duration.

(Image from Apple Tmall Live Room)

Seeing this, "fruit fans" can't help but ask: Is Apple really ready for live streaming? Is it because Apple doesn't understand live streaming, or are mobile digital products inherently unsuitable for live streaming?

To make a name for itself in the live broadcast room, Apple must figure out these few issues.

Are Apple really ready to please consumers?

Although he did not pay attention in advance, Herman, the old "fruit fan", was not surprised by the news of Apple's launch. Herman said that "apple fans" who follow Apple's trends can feel that "in recent months, Apple has not been as arrogant as before, and I heard before that it will be demoted in 618

Herman's intuitive perception is not wrong. After entering 2023, Apple has indeed been frequently associated with price reductions, which has rarely occurred in the past.

In February of this year, an internal document from Apple's authorized distributor SUNPIE was exposed, which stated that the prices of all versions of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 ProMax released at the autumn launch last year were reduced by 700 yuan. The event was held from February 5th to April 1st, covering all authorized stores.

Apple has not responded to this matter officially, and there has been no change in the prices of its direct stores. However, as one of Apple's main authorized dealers in Chinese Mainland, SUNPIE's price reduction must be officially authorized by Apple.

In terms of online channels, JD.com also followed up on price reduction activities early on. From February 5th to February 8th this year, users can purchase iPhone14Pro and iPhone14ProMax at a minimum price of 7199 yuan and 8199 yuan through voucher deduction.

As 618 approaches, Apple officials can no longer sit still - on May 29th, Apple announced its first participation in the Tmall 618 promotion through official demotion.Among them, the official flagship store's iPhone11, iPhoneXR and other products all support discounts such as cross store discounts and 150 yuan venue vouchers, with a maximum direct discount of 1830 yuan.

According to the official announcement, the newly released iPhone SE in April will also participate in this year's 618 promotion, with an official reduction of 200 yuan and support for 12 interest free installments. Taobao has also actively cooperated with the promotion and launched the slogan of "the lowest price on the global official website".

From the pre-sale data, the effect of official downgrade is indeed good. On May 25th, Tmall launched a 618 pre-sale, with iPhone sales increasing by over 170% year-on-year. Nearly 60% of the orders came from the sinking market of the third tier and below, and the price reduction did indeed release the purchasing desire of young people in small towns.

It is reasonable for Apple to start broadcasting next time as there is a significant reduction in prices as a warm-up. The Value Research Institute believes that from the perspective of the promotion efforts and duration of the premiere, Apple only wants this live broadcast to be an experiment and has not invested enough resources and energy.For Apple, live streaming may just be an opportunity to get closer to consumers and not have high expectations for sales.

It is worth mentioning that outside of Apple, mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi and OPPO have also tried self broadcasting, with varying results. OPPO has entered the two platforms of Tiktok and Kwai, created the "8.8O Powder Festival", and participated in activities such as Kwai Super Brand Day for many times. However, the most outstanding achievement is still Xiaomi, who was the earliest to layout live streaming.

As early as 2020, Xiaomi opened an official broadcast room in Kwai, the first mobile phone manufacturer to enter Kwai. At its peak, Xiaomi's single live broadcast GMV reached 240 million yuan, once ranking first in the Kwai live broadcast e-commerce list. During the Double Eleven period last year, Xiaomi continued to live stream on Bilibili for 12 hours, with over 15 million viewers during peak hours. Lu Weibing personally went off and started broadcasting, along with several well-known up hosts.

However, after tasting the sweetness, Xiaomi and OPPO did not continue to invest resources and expand their scale. Apart from occasionally adding live streaming rooms for big anchors in promotional events, these mobile phone manufacturers have reduced the frequency of starting their next broadcasts in person.After all, digital 3C products are indeed one of the main characters of 618, but they do not rely on live streaming rooms like other categories of products.

There are many reasons behind this: mobile phones are high consumption products, and users have carefully considered before purchasing, making live streaming rooms more suitable for impulsive consumption; The performance and parameters of the mobile phone are publicly available, and the main selling point manufacturers will promote it through various channels. The introduction by the anchor with both voice and emotion is not a major addition; The mobile channel prices are highly unified, and it is difficult for live streaming rooms to obtain the so-called "lowest price on the whole network". Big anchors and manufacturers actually do not need each other so much.

In summary, the launch of Apple is a signal of transformation, but it is not as important for Apple and "fruit fans" either. To solve the problem of iPhone sales, live streaming is definitely not the cure.

Gradually losing its uniqueness, can the iPhone still return as the king?

The pressure on Apple is multifaceted, and the inability to sell the iPhone is Cook's deepest concern.

In the fourth quarter of last year, the sales of iPhone14Pro and iPhone14ProMax decreased by 15 million units year-on-year. Although there is a shortage of production capacity at Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory, there is no doubt about the pressure on the demand side. Previously, Apple had reduced its supply chain orders for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14Plus, and the release of new color schemes at the beginning of the year seemed to have had little effect. The best evidence is that the new color scheme models quickly fell below the release price.

For Apple, lowering prices is both a compromise and a helplessness, with the main goal being to leverage new users in the sinking market. In addition to price reductions, Apple has also launched an iPhone SE with an official selling price of 3499 yuan, providing users with more options.

But whether it's price reduction or live streaming, they are not the master key and cannot solve all the problems. Compared to the standard version of iPhone 14, the high-end versions of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 ProMax are also in a less optimistic situation,And the prospects of these high-end models are definitely not determined by the sinking of new users in the market - the main force is the old "fruit fans" who have been following Apple for many years.

There is a question on Zhihu called "Do you regret buying the iPhone 14 Pro?" The front row high likes almost all expressed dissatisfaction, and the focus is mainly on technology and creativity. In the personal introduction, photographer "Lanzhou White Pigeon" with the label of "fruit fan" stated that the upgraded highlights such as Lingdong Island, 48 megapixel main camera, and AOD quickly lost their freshness, and "13499 (yuan) feels a bit overshadowed".

(Image from Zhihu)

Herman, who is also an old 'fruit fan', has a similar feeling, although his replacement progress has already been stuck with the iPhone 13 ProMax. Prior to this, Herman had been insisting on replacing new iPhones every year for many years, and after the rise of the "old for new" campaign, the replacement became more dynamic, always striving for the highest configuration.

The reason why I can't change now is not only that my education and training industry has been turbulent in recent years and my income has not been so stable, but also that the iPhone is becoming less and less surprising.

When the iPhone 4 was first launched, I was still in junior high school and only two classmates in my class bought it immediately. We were all secretly trying to see it, and at that time we really thought it was a particularly remarkable invention. Later, some students were not satisfied and bought the latest large screen Samsung back to 'tap' the iPhone. A group of people were arguing every day. Finally, I could afford it myself, but this heartfelt and shocking feeling is no longer coming back

Herman told the Value Research Institute that in recent years, it seems that the only thing left in his small circle is the cancellation of physical keys. These designs can make old "fruit fans" argue, often without even the desire to discuss. Herman's ideas also represent the feelings of some old fruit fans:They choose the iPhone and value technological breakthroughs and innovation the most.

The ultimate solution for an iPhone based on the high-end market is definitely not to rely on price wars or cost-effectiveness, as technology is the best antidote. Based on current revelations, the major innovations of iPhone 15 mainly include A17 chips, solid-state buttons, optical zoom, etc. It cannot be said that there is no sincerity, but there is still a lack of eye-catching breakthroughs. The situation does not seem optimistic in order to regain the favor of the old 'fruit fans'.

Fruit fans will not easily give up on apples, but they will definitely become increasingly strict. Apple can only maintain its uniqueness by presenting genuine technological innovation.

In recent months, Cook has been really busy. In March, he came to China to meet with Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and the main leaders of the National Development and Reform Commission. In April, he also visited India to discuss a series of themes such as investment and technology development with Prime Minister Modi. During this period, he even took time to welcome visitors to India's first Apple flagship store platform that opened in Mumbai.

From Cook's words and actions, as well as a series of recent developments, it can be seen that Apple has learned to lower its stance. In the first quarter of this year, Apple relinquished its global shipping champion to Samsung, and iPhone sales growth has approached zero. Live streaming and price reduction are a way for Apple to show goodwill to consumers, but it's hard to say whether "fruit fans" will buy or not.

The problems with recent generations of iPhones have been talked about too many times by media and users: lack of innovation, squeezing toothpaste, and poor signal are all common issues, but Apple has never had a good solution. The fact shows that Apple's focus on marketing and cost-effectiveness is not pleasing, and the core competitiveness of the iPhone has never been cheap.

After all, live streaming is just an unavoidable attempt.

Note: At the request of the interviewee, Herman in the text is a pseudonym.