Mobile payment "Three Kingdoms Kill": How does Apple Pay lose a good game?
Apple has had some troubles recently. Its revenue in FY2016 has fallen for the first time in 15 years. Apple Pay, which entered the Chinese market a year ago, is far from expected.
February 18 is the first anniversary of Apple Pay's entry into the Chinese market. It was originally thought to be the third spoiler outside Alipay and WeChat, and even the market disruptor, but now it is unknown.
“What Pay?†The question that the reporter heard during the visit to the merchant has become a portrayal of the current status of the Apple Pay market.
Wang Yanhui, secretary general of the China Mobile Alliance, said in an interview with reporters that "Apple payment will be difficult to reach the height of Alipay and WeChat in the foreseeable future. It is too high for the market outside the market. Its positioning should be similar to Samsung Pay, Huawei. Pay, etc., has become a complement to the mobile payment market and a way to increase the company's product stickiness and improve company services."
What is Pay?
In fact, when Apple Pay was launched in China last February, it was once popular in the mobile payment circle. There were many users who had "early adopters" and more than 30 million cards were attached to the same day, which means more than three. One of the iPhone 6 and above models is willing to try and experience. I don't want to be one year later, Apple Pay's market performance is far lower than expected.
Our reporter recently visited the shopping malls such as Capita Mall in Beijing's Wangjing business district. It found that merchants' acceptance of Apple Pay is very low. Only a few merchants such as Watsons, McDonald's and Apple Stores can accept Apple Pay checkout, even Many merchants have not heard of Apple Pay.
“What Pay?†During the visit, some merchants asked reporters. In sharp contrast, the merchant occupancy rate of WeChat and Alipay is basically over 90%.
Even at the merchants that open Apple Pay, the clerk said that the frequency of use is very low. “A maximum of one or two users use Apple Pay every day, and sometimes they may not be able to meet for several days,†said the Starbucks camper on the first floor of Capita Mall.
The reporter then conducted an Apple Pay payment under the guidance of the recruiter. The mobile phone was placed close to the POS machine. After the mobile phone screen flashed, the fingerprint verification was completed and the transaction was completed. The whole process was about 10 seconds. If the bank card opened a small exemption payment. The time can be shortened considerably.
According to reports, Apple Pay does not need a network environment, and does not need to open the APP like WeChat and Alipay. The whole payment process is simple and convenient, and the security is high. But why is Apple Pay still not widely accepted by local users? There are various opinions in the industry, but one thing is widely recognized: the size limit of users of Apple mobile phones.
Unacceptable?
The basic premise of using Apple Pay is to have an iPhone with an iPhone 6 or higher, and by the end of 2015, there were 82.19 million iPhone 6 models sold in Greater China. This has also become the biggest weakness of the expansion of the Apple Pay market.
In contrast, Alipay and WeChat are all open platform operations, almost accepting most brands and models of mobile phones, the size of users can leave Apple far away.
At the same time, there are only a handful of merchants supporting Apple Pay. This reflects the fact that Apple’s promotion of Apple Pay in China is far less than that of competitors. Alipay and WeChat Pay have strong push teams, and they will negotiate with merchants. Promotion. During the visit, journalists often saw advertisements and various preferential measures that welcomed WeChat, Alipay, and Apple Pay's logo was rarely seen.
For merchants, Apple Pay's necessary POS machine installation and transformation costs are not low, Apple Pay needs flash payment function pos machine to accept, currently there are about 6 million POS machines supporting near-field payment in the country, transforming a POS machine About 300 yuan, a new POS machine low standard product price of about 600 yuan, the price is not high, but the disadvantage is revealed relative to the almost zero cost of the two-dimensional code.
"From the user's point of view, WeChat and Alipay basically realize the full coverage of the merchants and are convenient to use; from the merchants, on the one hand, the user needs are large, on the one hand, Alipay and WeChat offer great efforts." Wang Yanhui said that this time, The gap has been pulled even bigger.
In addition, what Apple is worried about may be that its main partner, UnionPay, has begun to introduce the QR code standard. Previously, UnionPay and major banking institutions were one of the main promoters of Apple Pay in the Chinese market.
Previously, UnionPay has been arguing whether to enter the two-dimensional code payment market. It has spent a lot of effort on mobile payment to promote NFC (near-field payment), and has access to mobile phone manufacturers such as Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi. However, the popularity of QR codes is obviously beyond imagination, and NFC has never had a big breakthrough.
"Maybe the market has set Apple Pay and expectations too high. Apple Pay's competitors should be Samsung Pay, Huawei Pay and even Xiaomi Pay." Wang Yanhui said frankly.
From subversive to supplement
Perhaps aware of the gap and reality of this market size, Apple Pay's market positioning and role are also quietly changing.
At present, China has surpassed the United States to become the world's highest revenue market for App Stores. In the latest version of iOS that was previously updated, in the iTunes Store and App Store, users can use Alipay as a daily payment method to pay.
One side is the promotion of Apple Pay, and the other is the user experience of the world's highest revenue market. The balance between the two tests Apple's wisdom.
From market disruptors to supplements, will Apple Pay make market positioning shifts in the future? Apple's public relations department responded to this reporter's report that the company is not convenient to speak up and will communicate at a suitable opportunity.
Li Chao, a senior analyst at iResearch, said that Apple Pay is difficult to compete with Alipay and WeChat in China, but Apple Pay is an advanced technology that has improved the global mobile payment technology. It can also be regarded as an infrastructure. The advantages of NFC technology represented by Apple Pay in terms of security and scene richness make it necessary to exist. Apple Pay may also generate more financial models in the future.
In addition, China is already the largest mobile payment market in the world. According to data provided by iResearch, the value of third-party mobile payments in China increased by three times to 38 trillion yuan ($5.5 trillion) in 2016, and Alipay and WeChat dominated the market.
“If consumption habits are difficult to change, and with the rise of domestic smartphones, they will arrange their own payment eco-chains. In the foreseeable future, Apple Pay will be difficult to compare with Alipay and WeChat, and even the gap will widen,†said Wang Yanhui. For Apple, Apple Pay gives users more choices, increasing the user's stickiness and convenience. As a channel for Apple's store consumption and a way to enhance Apple's mobile phone user service, it may be a more realistic positioning.
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