“How do you convince customers to buy a product they already have?”

VHere is a match that we will follow with interest this week. On my left, Apple, which presents its new phone on Monday, September 9 – the iPhone 16, and, on my right, a returnee, the Chinese Huawei which will unveil in China its new device, the Mate XT.

Both are faced with a question as old as consumer society. : how to convince your customers to buy a product they already have? A problem that is common to all mature markets, from refrigerators to automobiles. The answer is generally on the innovation side.

For Apple, whose revenue is expected to grow by less than 2% this year according to Bloomberg, the moment is crucial. Its stock market valuation and profits depend on its ability to revive the smartphone market that made its fortune. Its number 16 will be the first to feature artificial intelligence. It promises us a Siri assistant that is much smarter and more efficient than the current one, which is particularly sluggish.

Engin pliable

With a simple calculation. Only the 15 pro and 16 smartphones will be able to use this new function, because they are equipped with the electronic chip that will allow it. Since only 10% of iPhone users have a 13 model or higher, according to Bloomberg’s calculations, the others will have to renew their machine if they want to take advantage of the new function. With, as a key, the promise of renewed growth.

Huawei, faced with the need to bounce back in a market from which it was brutally removed by the American authorities, has chosen another path, that of the form of the object. Its phone folds in three. It is the size of a regular smartphone in the pocket and, once unfolded, that of a tablet. Which of these two approaches, by the content or by the container, will be the right one? The consumer will decide. Huawei has already recorded more than a million orders for its new foldable device. As for Apple, it will have to take up a challenge that is essential for it and for the entire profession: to demonstrate that generative artificial intelligence is really useful in everyday life.