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Analysts expect iPhone 17 to lift Apple's ( AAPL ) market share in

China

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Buyers attracted to phone redesign

By Che Pan and Brenda Goh

BEIJING, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people lined up

at Apple's ( AAPL ) flagship store in Beijing on the launch day

of the iPhone 17 on Friday in a sign that sales of the series

are off to a promising start in the world's second largest

economy.

Among the roughly 300 people that arrived in the morning at

Apple's ( AAPL ) store in downtown Sanlitun to pick up phones ordered

online was Shuke Wang, 35, who said he purchased the Pro Max

model, priced from 9,999 yuan ($1,406) in China and pegged by

analysts to be the best selling model in the 17 series.

"I really like the 17 series' redesign, and I think the

orange-coloured one looks good, but too flashy. The Air Model

looks good too, but the Pro Max gives longer battery life," he

said.

Apple ( AAPL ) says the base model iPhone 17 has a brighter, more

scratch-resistant screen, and will also have a better

front-facing camera that will make horizontal selfies look

better.

Analysts say the iPhone 17 series could give a crucial

end-of-year boost to Apple's ( AAPL ) market share and shipments in

China, which have been pressured this year by intensifying

competition from Xiaomi ( XIACF ) and Huawei amid weak consumer

demand.

Apple ( AAPL ) does not disclose pre-order figures.

In the first eight weeks of the third quarter, Apple's ( AAPL )

shipments decreased 6%, according to data from Counterpoint

Research released earlier this week.

Chiew Le Xuan, a senior analyst at research company Omdia,

said they expected iPhone shipments in China to rise 11% year

over year in the second half, driven by the new series,

contributing to 5% full-year growth for Apple ( AAPL ) in 2025.

"The iPhone 17 Pro Max is expected to outperform the 16 Pro

Max, driven by a major redesign - a factor that has historically

spurred replacement demand in China," said Chiew. "It is likely

to become Apple's ( AAPL ) top-performing model in the Chinese market in

2026."

The iPhone Air will be the only model in China to have

telecom operators' support for an e-SIM - a digital SIM embedded

in the device. However, Apple ( AAPL ) has not opened pre-sales for the

Air in China and says the availability of eSIM services from

China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom is subject to

regulatory approval.

"The iPhone Air may serve as a testbed for thin-and-light

technology that could later be applied to a foldable iPhone,"

said Will Wong, a senior smartphone analyst at IDC.

Wong said the Air won't deliver a major sales boost, as

Apple ( AAPL ) traded off battery life and camera and audio quality,

which Chinese consumers value, to achieve the slimmer design

features.

($1 = 7.1138 Chinese yuan renminbi)