A man tries the new iPhone 11 at an Apple store in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province on Friday. Photo: IC

Sales of Apple's new iPhone 11 in China began on Friday, but were met with a much cooler reception from consumers than in previous years. Many compared it with Huawei's newly launched Mate 30, saying the Chinese firm's device beats the new iPhone in terms of innovation and quality. 

Huawei's new devices have also won overseas consumers' hearts. Many praised the Mate 30 for far longer battery life and better design. 

Unlike in previous years, no long lines were seen outside Chinese shops on Friday for the new iPhone, and the product release only made headlines in a few media outlets.

Huawei unveiled its Mate 30 smartphone series on Thursday night. At a launch in Munich, Germany, the Chinese firm said its new Mate 30 Pro and Mate 30 devices were more compact, their cameras more sensitive, and wraparound screens more vivid than those of the latest iPhone. 

The Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro are priced at €799 ($883) and €1,099, respectively, and will be officially launched in Shanghai next week. 

In sharp contrast with iPhone 11's lukewarm sales, Chinese netizens have engaged in lively discussions on Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro since late Thursday. 

Several online polls on the Mate 30 and iPhone 11 on China's Twitter-like Weibo on Friday showed that more than 60 percent of netizens voted for the Mate 30, while less than 20 percent chose the iPhone 11. 

Many voted for Huawei not out of patriotism but for its technology. 

One customer from Shanghai surnamed Zhao, an IT specialist who pre-ordered a Mate 30 Pro on Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com on Friday, told the Global Times that he did not hesitate between the two phones.

"It's obvious that Huawei's new phone with its advanced 5G mode would lead the future global telecommunications market, and its new innovative features in gesture and side control attracted my attention, aside from its strong video recording features and cameras," Zhao said. 

The iPhone 11 was being sold at a discount on Friday on several Chinese e-commerce platforms. On Pinduoduo, the iPhone 11 was sold for as low as 4,999 yuan - a 500 yuan discount. 

Prior to Huawei's launch of new phones, a survey of Chinese consumer attitudes showed that Apple had dropped from No.11 a year ago to No.24, while Apple's biggest competitor Huawei has climbed two spots to second, behind Chinese payment service Alipay, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Overseas consumers also engaged in vigorous discussions on Huawei's new flagship devices on technology sites and social media platforms. 

On Twitter, many netizens said "nice," "best phone ever" and "my favorite one" on Huawei's Twitter account. 

 "The Mate 30 Pro killed everyone, including the iPhone 11 Pro Max," one Twitter user said. 

Some even made charts of the iPhone 11 and Mate 30, and concluded that the Mate 30 was better.

On US-based technology site theverge.com, a netizen said Americans should know that there is a big world outside the US and Apple, where Huawei products sell better. 

Some netizens in countries like the UK, the Netherlands and Argentina asked when Huawei's new devices would be released in their countries. 

Global Times
Newspaper headline: Huawei Mate 30 series beats iPhone 11 in innovation and quality, surveys show