Apple recently launched the iPhone 13 lineup, along with several other products, including iPad, iPad Mini and Apple Watch Series 7, in the ‘California Streaming’ virtual launch event. While some people were budgeting out to buy the newly launched Apple products, a group of college-going young intellectual minds started wondering if the “i” prefix has graced Apple’s renowned trademark, then why the Apple Watch isn’t branded as the iWatch?
iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, all of these famous Apple products are named according to a similar pattern except Apple Watch, and every time Apple launches a new model of the Apple Watch Series, the same question arises why it is called as Apple Watch instead of iWatch? Well, by now, a number of Apple enthusiastic people have known about the reason behind it and for the rest, here comes the answer but first, let’s take a quick look at iHistory.
A Little iHistory
When Apple acquired NeXT in 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple, taking over the helm of Apple as CEO of the company he co-founded in 1976 with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company was struggling when he returned and was on the verge of breaking, and then magic happened when Apple released the iMac in 1998. Soon, it became a popular product, and Apple came back on track.
The name iMac was referred to by Ken Segall, a man who worked for Apple’s advertising agency, and after tasting a massive success with iMac, Apple continued using the lowercase “i” prefix for various products including, the first iBook, which was released in 1999, for iPad since 2001, for web-based Apple services- iReview, iTool, iTunes, and for iPhone since 2007.
The launch of the iPhone in 2007 turned out to be revolutionary for the company as it cemented its place in the world of technology, and then Apple started developing its first-ever smartwatch with a would-be plan to name it an iWatch. Apple wasn’t aware of the already ongoing courtroom drama around the name iWatch, and all of it came to Apple as an unexpected and unwanted surprise.
High Voltage iDrama
It all started in June 2007, when a New York-based M.Z. Berger & Co. filed to trademark the iWatch name, which was dragged down by Swiss watchmaker Swatch. The Swiss company created a valid point leading to trademark litigation that the iWatch name would create confusion with Swatch buyers. While in European Union countries, a Dublin-based firm named Probendi has held the rights to the iWatch name since 2008. Their website claims that it is the only entity allowed to use the term iWatch in the European Union and warns to take strict legal action against any company that uses the iWatch name in the EU region.
Later on, in 2012, Fresno-California-based OMG Electronics, which was intended to create a smartwatch, applied for a trademark for the iWatch name before Apple. The application proposal was displeased when Swiss watchmaker Swatch challenged OMG Electronics over the company’s trademark application. At the same time, OMG Electronics sought to raise $100,000 to produce a smartwatch on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, but unfortunately, it only managed to raise $1434.
Leaving the US struggle behind, Apple applied for a trademark for iWatch in the UK, but again Swiss watchmaker Swatch demonstrated that it had an earlier trademark for iSwatch, which sound almost similar to iWatch and would cause confusion. Apple failed to convince the Intellectual Property Office of the UK and the result was declared in favour of Swatch in Oct. 2014. Further, Apple appealed the decision to the High Court, and this time the result was stated in favour of Apple.
After struggling over the iWatch trademark in the United States and European Union countries, Apple went further to try their fate in China, but to Apple’s lousy luck, the company got to know that in China, nine different companies have held the iWatch trademark. Overall, Apple managed to obtain the iWatch trademark in a number of countries, including Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, and Russia.
However, when Apple unveiled the first-ever smartwatch in 2015, it was branded as Apple Watch because the company failed to secure the iWatch trademark in large segments of the world. Whenever asked in the media about whether it made a bid to buy the iWatch trademark from the current holders as it did with the iPhone and iPad, the company never implemented a straight answer.
Finally, the suspense is over, and the date is revealed. On Tuesday, Apple finalised that it is hosting the September event next week. However, it is still not confirmed by Apple that the release of the iPhone 13 will happen in that event or not. But as per the hints given by Apple in its invite that bought us with the augmented reality AR experience, we can make out that the launch will be a big one.
Since last year, to boost up its announcements, a record of offering AR Easter eggs has been made by Apple. The Tim- cook led team Has raised the platform and advised that the upcoming Apple iPhone inauguration should be with AR experience this time, which will take the iPhone lovers to the next level experience.
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can go to the Apple events webpage and click on the September 14 invite. You can experience the recent AR Easter egg. In that, you can see an AR Apple logo that will come into view over your camera viewfinder. You can keep in motion your Apple device to see the “9. 14” inauguration date and can also zoom in to see the landscape behind it.
The logo uses Apple’s AR kit that is already installed on the iPhone and iPad. The launch video also has sound effects powered by spatial audio with the song “weather” by WDL. This AR experience could be embossed if the LiDAR sensor is present in the new Apple iPhone models.
Spotlight of the event.
An AR logo has been made by apple that was shown on its event webpage.
The logo takes us to a lake landscape where we can visualise the “9.14” release date.
Reportedly, iPhone 13 Series shall provide the new AR feel.
Apple today announced that it has acquired Primephonic, an Amsterdam-based classical musical streaming service. Primephonic, which was launched in 2014, is now being acquired by Apple in a bid to focus on a music genre that’s been lacking in Apple Music’s generalized approach to streaming.
On September 7, Primephonic will officially shut down, paving the way for Apple to launch the classical music app based on its streaming service in 2022.
“Artists love the Primephonic service and what we’ve done in classical, and now we have the ability to join with Apple to deliver the absolute best experience to millions of listeners,” Primephonic co-founder and CEO Thomas Steffens said in a release issued by Apple. “We get to bring classical music to the mainstream and connect a new generation of musicians with the next generation of audience.”
According to Primephonic’s CTO, the service has been launched in over 150 countries. It also appears to have an older demographic than more generalized streaming services.
“Most of our users are age 55 plus and are highly educated and relatively well off,” Henrique Boregio told Mixpanel in 2020. “We joke in the office that we don’t know whether you start liking classical music and then you become wealthy, or if it’s the other way around.”
Apple notes of the upcoming offering, “Apple Music Classical fans will get a dedicated experience with the best features of Primephonic, including better browsing and search capabilities by composer and by repertoire, detailed displays of classical music metadata, plus new features and benefits.”
The company is offering an olive branch to existing Primephonic users in the form of six free months of Apple Music.
Since launching Apple Music in 2015, Apple has made a few acquisitions to bolster the service. It bought Shazam, a music recognition app, in 2018, letting customers identify songs and add them to their playlists. But Apple has faced fierce competition from Spotify in streaming music around the world.
To what length can a smartphone company go to stand out from their competitors? Of course, they wouldn’t reach out to the stars for their users, or will they?
We have a fun iPhone rumour! Apple is reportedly planning to launch a new iPhone 13 lineup next month, and the news reports suggest that the upcoming models will feature Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication connectivity.
According to MacRumors, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is claiming that iPhone 13 could have the ability to make satellite calls. The LEO connectivity allows you to make calls and send messages in areas without cellular coverage, all thanks to a customized Qualcomm X60 baseband chip.
LEO satellites are probably best known as the backbone of Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service, which relies on satellites in a lower orbit to beam internet down to customers and avoid some of the common pitfalls of satellite internet, including high latency and common blackouts.
Immarsat, a direct competitor to Starlink, announced a new constellation intended to blend with terrestrial 5G networks for a more global solution. iPhone recently witnessed its stock skyrocket when Qualcomm announced its upcoming X65 chip would support Globalstar’s Band n53 tech.
“Qualcomm’s support of Band n53 represents a significant milestone in our efforts to commercialize our spectrum in the US and all other countries where we have or expect to obtain terrestrial authority,” Kyle Pickens, vice president, strategy, at GlobalStar, said in an investor note at the time.
However, satellite connectivity wouldn’t be available in every country. Apple will also have to seek additional clearances from governments and meet standards, which may differ from one country to the next.
According to a survey, many iPhone users want the upcoming iPhone model to be named ‘iPhone 2021’ instead of ‘iPhone 13’. Around 26 per cent thought that the “iPhone 13” was the best name, and only 13 per cent said that they would like to see the devices called the “iPhone 12S”. The remaining wanted the name to be iPhone ‘2021’.
The secret of getting ahead is getting started, and not every multinational company begins with huge sophisticated office spaces and wealthy founders. Some of them start their journey with hope and passion, and when it comes to choosing a start-up place within a budget, no place is better than a household garage.
Famous founders, who we idolise today, were once ordinary people who decided to achieve their dreams with exceptional drive and motivation but how they started their journey is still the talk of the town. So, here are the top 10 popular companies who began their journey from a garage and proved that great ideas could come from anywhere but works adequately if the place is your garage.
Amazon
Founder: Jeff Bezos
We all know about Amazon and who owns it, thanks to its worldwide reach and customer friendly service. It all started with one dream when Mr Bezos quit his job at a Wall Street investment firm and moved to Seattle to try his hands in the online bookselling industry, and the rest you know is history.
Currently, Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace, but to your surprise, when Mr Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994, it was just an online bookstore and used to deal with only book-related sales and operations right from Bezos’ household garage in Bellevue, Washington.
Today, Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest guys in the world, and Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world, but the initial days of Amazon were packed with struggle as it took them an entire year to sell their first book, which makes sense to the quote, patience is the key element to success.
Amazon began as an online bookstore and has since expanded to various other e-commerce products and services, including audio and video streaming, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Mr Bezos has announced he would step down from his role as CEO of Amazon on 5th July 2021 and fly to space on 20th July 2021 along with his brother, Mark Bezos.
Disney
Founders: Disney Brothers
The Walt Disney Company is well-known as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and famous for creating iconic cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. In 1923, Walt and his brother Roy moved to Los Angeles to their uncle’s house and set up their first studio, Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, in the one-car garage and started operating from there, looks like a very humble and dedicated beginning.
The first-ever film they shot in this tiny garage was Alice Comedies, which would later inspire Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. Later on, in 1926, they changed the company’s name to The Walt Disney Company. Disney faced a lot of sorrows in its journey toward prosperity but conquered all the combats and became one of the world’s most popular and biggest entertainment conglomerates, with current worth over $200 billion.
Google
Founders: Larry Page & Sergey Brin
The world is made up of tiny matters, and you won’t believe it, but Google also followed the same path. Yes, the world’s most famous search engine and the basic need of modern life began its official journey in current YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki’s 2,000-foot Menlo Park garage in September 1998.
Two Stanford Graduate students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, started Google as a research project in January 1996, and after a couple of years, they decided to register the domain name www.google.com on 15th September 1997. The main goal behind creating Google was to organize and maintain all kinds of information on a single platform accessible to all people worldwide.
In March 1999, the company shifted its base along with its eight employees to Palo Alto, California, home to several prominent Silicon Valley technology start-ups. Today, Google is the most trafficked site in the world and has also launched other helpful websites, applications and devices like Gmail, Google+, Google Drive, Pixel phones and Google Nest.
Harley Davidson
Founders: William Harley & Davidson Brothers
Everyone knows about the unique and distinctive sound of Harley Davidson Motorcycles, but not everyone knows that the world’s first Harley Davidson was built in a 10 by the 15-foot wooden shed at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The shed was equivalent to a garage because they didn’t have cars.
In 1901, 20-year-old William Harley outlined layouts for a small engine designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame and started working on a motor-bicycle project for a couple of years along with his childhood friend Arthur Davidson. The project was completed in 1903 with the help of Arthur’s brother Walter Davidson, and soon they officially founded Harley-Davidson in 1903.
Harley Davidson was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company. Today, Harley Davidson is the most well-known and respectable motorcycle brand in the world. Their engines’ deep, rumbling and muscular sound still make people go crazy to buy these motorcycles.
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Founders: Bill Hewlett & David Packard
Stanford University has something with developing future-oriented students, and we’re back again with another founder duo from Stanford. Bill Hewlett & David Packard were students of electrical engineering at Stanford, who later on founded Hewlett-Packard, popularly known as HP, in 1939, inside Packard’s 12 by 18 foot rented garage in Palo Alto, California, with an initial investment of $538, equivalent to $9,891 in 2020. Today, the Packard’s garage is recognised as the birthplace of HP and Silicon Valley.
The very first product HP developed was an audio oscillator (HP200A), and one of their first clients was Bud Hawkins, Chief Sound Engineer for Walt Disney Studios, who bought eight audio oscillators for testifying the surround sound systems installed in theatres for their motion picture Fantasia. Following its inception, HP has evolved into a robust and active company, developing numerous computers, laptops, printers, 3D printing solutions, and other computer-centric accessories with advanced technologies.
Apple
Founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak & Ronald Wayne
Without standards, there can be no improvement, and one should learn how to set high standards and win hearts from Apple, which is currently amongst the group of insanely popular international brands. However, it is widely believed that it was founded in the household garage in 1976 by a trio Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak & Ronald Wayne. Apple’s first product was the Apple I computer which was designed and hand-built entirely by Wozniak.
One of their first big orders was from a local retailer who ordered 50 units of Wozniak’s Apple I computer at $500 apiece, which they hand-built in 30 days. Ronald Wayne gave up on the company before it finished the first-ever order. The first big order helped the company achieve more, and shortly the team continued to create the Apple II computer. Later on, they built a Macintosh line of products which made them millionaires.
Steve Wozniak permanently left Apple in early 1985, stating the company had been going in the wrong direction, but time proved who was going in the wrong direction. Today, Apple is worth $2.2 trillion and leading a technological revolution with its devices like iPhones, iPods, iPads, Macbooks and Mac computers; special thanks to the late Steve Jobs, who helped transform the world of computers through Apple.
Microsoft
Founders: Bill Gates and Paul Allen
Microsoft is a household name, and if you’re not aware of it, you must be living in an alternate dimension, existing in parallel to the human world. When childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, they had a small garage, and they thought it’s enough space to start a coding company.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen were keen on developing programming language and software operations; they collaborated with IBM and built their first operating system and licensed it for $80,000. They decided to name the company Microsoft, short for micro-computer software, which was a suggestion from Paul Allen.
Furthermore, they developed their most popular operating system, called Windows, which currently runs on 80% of the computers in the world. Recently, the company launched its latest OS, Windows 11, the most advanced version of Windows. Today, Microsoft is worth $1 trillion, and its co-founder Bill Gates is the 2nd richest person in the world.
Dell
Founder: Michael Dell
Dell is one of the largest technology corporations in the world that develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products. Still, its founder Michael Dell is not a familiar name for us like we know Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, though he’s also a college dropout like them who made a name in the computer world by designing customized computers for people. Michael Dell dropped out of school to focus full-time on his business and founded Dell Computer Corporation in 1984, headquartered in his dorm room.
The company designed the first computer of its design in 1985, the Turbo PC, and sold it for $795. Later on, Michael moved to North Austin to expand the company from his own office, which he acquired through the early profits. Over the years, Dell grew up as one of the trustworthy brands in the computer world. Currently, Dell is worth $78.05 billion and competing fairly with several computer manufacturing opponents like HP, Lenovo and Acer.
Lotus Cars
Founder: Colin Chapman
If you are a fan of competitive racing and sports cars, you must be aware of the Lotus Cars, which manufactures lightweight and fine handling sports and racing cars. The Norfolk headquartered British automotive company was founded in 1948 by then 20-years old Colin Chapman in a garage where he built his first racing car, and the first factory was situated in old stables next to the railway hotel in Hornsey, London.
Over the next few decades, Lotus emerged as one of the top racing and sports car manufacturing companies where Lotus was also involved in Formula One racing via Team Lotus, winning the Formula One World Championship seven times. Lotus encountered financial troubles after the death of Colin Chapman, and later on, it was bought by General Motors. Currently, Lotus is owned by Chinese multinational group Geely which holds a 51% controlling stake in Lotus and the remaining 49% were acquired by Etika Automotive.
Along with these 9 companies, several other companies started their journey from a Garage or even smaller space, including Mattel – a toy manufacturing company founded in 1945 and popular for products like Barbie, Hot Wheels, and more. The next on the list is Maglite – a flashlight manufacturing company which Anthony Maglica founded in 1979, and last but not least is Nike, which began as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 and started its journey from the trunk of a car, which is way smaller than a garage.
I follow the Science Monitor show that telecasts every Saturday at 2 PM. Now, some of you may not know, or some of you know who are preparing for some government exams. But, a tech nerd will ask me why am I talking about something out of the tech domain. If you want to know on which channel it comes, let me tell you a clear cut answer – RSTV (Rajya Sabha TV). Once, there came about a research that an IIT did on music’s impact on the human brain. I guess the Apple team took inspiration from it. According to Apple, their flagship product – AirPod, will help to monitor breathing rate. Now, that may look strange, but hey, why worry when Exhibit is there to unveil the mystery behind this research. Let’s know more about this new development.
I CAN BREATHE
George Floyd was not just a phenomenon. He came like that ignition engine that promoted the consolidation of human rights all around the world. And, “I can’t breathe” became the war-cry of that social movement that started last year. But, here, I want to talk about the “I can breathe” moment. The Apple research team has claimed that there’s a possibility through which they can measure your and mine respiration rate. How? Through the sound produced during the music beats or vocals during which we all breathe. Apple has come up with such results after testing it on 21 individuals by their “microphone-enabled, near-field headphones” technique.
How did they test?
During this research, the individuals got the instruction to record four one-minute audio clips. Now, to record audio clips, participants had to do them before, during, and immediately after the workout gets over. Individuals also had to go for some sort of workout for exactly nine minutes every time. This workout helped to induce huge palpitation and heavy breathing among the participants during the research. Once recorded, the pattern in the difference of sound was observed through the in-built versatile non-contact sensors (present also in Apple AirPod series). These sensors act as a breathing measurement instrument. After eliminating the acoustic distortion, researchers were able to come to a concrete conclusion.
Potential of this Apple AirPod Research
The Apple research team has clearly said that these trials were not for devising any clinical mechanism. However, the research paper can help out many in medical applications, one of which is working on cardiovascular therapy and other breathing tracking applications. But, through this Apple AirPod can create a complete revolution.
Coincidences matter. Coincidences do occur. And, some coincidences happened recently. Just a few days before, the Cabinet decided to extend the timeline of POCSO fast track courts. And, now Apple has decided to bring more compliance in child sex abuse regulation. Child sex abuse is one of the burning topics which has increased in current times. Just file an RTI application from the Ministry of Women & Child Development or check the National Criminal Records Bureau portal to know how many child sex abuse cases get registered in a year. Figures are disturbing. But, with this update, Apple is displaying its firm intent to mitigate such instances. Let’s know more about this news in detail from this Exhibit blog.
Apple’s Tool for Child Sex Abuse
A report is out where there is information available that Apple is working to develop a tool that can scan child sex abuse images. This report thoroughly talks about how Apple is working towards child safety and other measures that can reduce the frequency in such cases. Apple will bring this tool with its flagship OS-based products, including iOS 15, watchOS 8, and macOS Monterey. Apple has also announced that they are enhancing the utility of their default message application to tackle this issue.
How will this tool work?
If it’s about the Message app, the essential element that will help to scan such incidents through rich libraries is NLP (Natural Language Processing). Whenever any message comes, it will try to detect keywords like ‘child,’ ‘sex,’ or something quite relevant to this domain and understand what the sender or receiver tries to express. Once understood, it will send the notification for the same to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, a regulatory agency in the USA. This apple tool will also scan images and comparing same with the large data set on child sex abuse. If your child thinks about seeing sensitive images, this tool has the power to send notifications to you.
Potential of Apple’s Tool
The new Apple tool has immense potential to reduce child sex instances to a greater extent. Apple should think about collaborating with other social media messaging apps to read messages or request those app-based companies to send a red alert by using the tool without storing it somewhere (hence, it will keep privacy intact). Even in India, both MoWCD and MHA should talk about this tool that can help their law enforcement agencies catch culprits.
Final Word
Apple has taken a giant step to bring betterment to society. It will be great to see other smartphone makers take the same type of measures by building such tools to make humanity feel safer, especially for your kids.
Apple will now require staff and customers, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, to wear masks at most of its US stores. According to a Bloomberg report, they are bringing back the company’s requirement previously removed in June. The rule will be put into effect from this Thursday.
On Wednesday, Apple headquarters in California informed all the visitors to wear masks indoors irrespective of their vaccination status as the risk of the delta virus upends.
In a memo obtained by Bloomberg, Apple informed,
“After carefully reviewing the latest CDC recommendations, and analyzing the health and safety data for your local area, we are updating our guidance on face masks for your store.”
It further added,
“Starting July 29, face masks will be required in store for customers and team members — even if they’re vaccinated.”
Apple has maintained a reputation during the Covid-19 pandemic for making decisions about where it is deemed safe to operate its retail stores, sometimes even ahead of public health orders.
While in talks with CNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company could push back its plan to call workers from September to October.
“We are monitoring things daily to really conclude whether that is the right answer or not,” Cook said.
The move comes after COVID-19 cases start to rise in most parts of the country and when the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised people who are already vaccinated to wear masks indoors in public ‘if you are in the area of high transmission.”
As far as sales are concerned, Apple has continued to top the charts. According to Cook, sales rose 36% on an annual basis when the quarter ended in June.
In a similar response, Google has also said that it would require all the employees to be vaccinated before returning to the office. The company also delayed its return to the physical office from September to October 18.
Apple recently released iOS 14.7, the seventh major update to the iOS operating system. Previously, a couple of months ago, the company released iOS 14.6, which added support for Apple Podcast subscriptions and included the just-launched high-fidelity Apple Music service.
The latest software version iOS 14.7, is rolling out for all supported iPhones and adds support for new hardware, allowing iPhone 12 lineup owners to utilize the MagSafe Battery Pack fully. The $99 (Rs. 10,900) MagSafe battery pack will soon arrive at stores and doorsteps to provide you with a magnetic charge on the go.
The company has also added a previously announced Apple Card feature. The new card feature combines credit limits while keeping the lowest interest rate and shares one co-owned account with existing Apple Card users. Users can find the combined credit limits in the updated Wallet application.
The latest operating software update is not the hugest of updates but appears to be more focused on under-the-hood changes. The iOS 14.7 also upgrades the Home app and brings the ability to manage timers through the Home app without having to ask Siri.
In addition to introducing these new features, iOS 14.7 also fixes known bugs, including the share playlist menu option, which was missing earlier in Apple Music, and an unexpected stoppage of Dolby Atmos and Apple Music lossless audio playback.
The latest update also fixes bugs related to Braille displays showing invalid information while composing mail messages. Along with these features, iOS 14.7 authorises the Podcasts library to allow users to choose to see all shows or only followed shows.
The iOS 14.7 software update is available to download for free on all eligible devices in the Settings app. To do that, simply go to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released the new tvOS 14.7 software and watchOS 7.6, which brings irregular heart rhythm notifications.
Xiaomi takes over Apple to become the world’s second-biggest smartphone maker. According to Canalys’ most recent data, Xiaomi Corp. witnessed an 83% jump in shipments in the second quarter of 2021.
The South Korean smartphone giant Samsung continues to lead the spot with a 19 per cent market share. However, Xiaomi has significantly closed the gap with a 17 per cent market share, giving cut-throat competition to the tech giant.
Xiaomi Is Now Second Largest Smartphone Maker
Xiaomi’s shipments in Latin America witnessed a climb by more than 300 per cent, by 150% in Africa, and 50% in Western Europe. The main reason for this growth is that Xiaomi offers products that cost 40 to 70% cheaper than Samsung and Apple devices. According to Canalys, Xiaomi should focus on increasing its sales of smartphones like the Mi 11 Ultra.
Huawei Technologies Co. was in the league of disrupting the rankings until sanctions cut it off from essential supplies last year. Its withdrawal pushed other Chinese vendors to spend aggressively on new upgrades into the market.
Xiaomi actively launched two flagship devices within the first four months of the year. The company’s Mi 11 Ultra features one of the largest camera sensors to date, pushing it further into the premium pricing range.
Catalyst Research Manager Ben Staton said in a release,
“It is now transforming its business model from challenger to incumbent, with initiatives such as channel partner consolidation and more careful management of older stock in the open market. It is still largely skewed toward the mass market, however, and compared with Samsung and Apple, its average selling price is around 40% and 75% cheaper respectively. So a major priority for Xiaomi this year is to grow sales of its high-end devices, such as the Mi 11 Ultra.”
Even so, Xiaomi stole this position; Apple is still in a good position. iPhone 13, which is expected to be introduced this fall, can keep up the robust iPhone 12 sales, like Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan believed. Research conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners showed that iPhone 12 accounted for 63% of the US iPhone sales during the third quarter of 2021.
