BEIJING (Reuters) - Apple's new iPhone launch drew scorn on Tuesday for its lack of artificial intelligence features in China, a challenge for the U.S. giant as it battles growing competition from Huawei Technologies in the world's largest smartphone market.
Apple unveiled its long-awaited, AI-boosted iPhone 16 on Monday, hoping the new features would drive consumers to upgrade amid a slowdown in its smartphone sales, which account for more than half of its total sales.
But Apple has yet to announce an AI partner in China to power the 16s, and Apple Intelligence, the company's AI software, will be available in Chinese language only next year.
The iPhone 16 launch dominated discussions on Chinese social media on Tuesday, ahead of Huawei's unveiling of a three-way foldable smartphone later in the day.
On Weibo, China's X-like platform, three of the top 10 trending topics were related to the iPhone 16 launch, with AI features among a key topic of discussion.
