File photo of a model of the Beidou Satellite Navigation System.Photo:Xinhua

At the launch event on Wednesday Beijing time, Apple officially released its new 5G enabled iPhone 12 models which for the first time support China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).

The change signals that BDS has been widely recognized by the market as a member of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), analysts said.

BDS is China's large space-based system and one of four global navigation networks, alongside the US' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the EU's Galileo.

This marks the first time that an Apple mobile phone has officially announced to support the Chinese self-developed navigation system. 

Other smartphone brands in China, including Huawei, Meizu and Xiaomi, have already include BeiDou in their location and navigation systems in most of their models.

It is natural for Apple to embrace the system following the completion of BeiDou-3 system, Ma Jihua, a veteran analyst in the high-tech sector told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"From a technical point of view, BDS networking is not inferior to GPS in many respects with its excellent location and navigation capabilities. In the future, there will be more mobile apps bearing the name of BDS and it is a natural for Apple to opt for the system in order to provide convenience and better service to users," Ma said.

Currently, BDS covers more than 200 countries and regions, with more than 100 million users and 200 million daily services.

In terms of the marketing strategy, the inclusion of BDS will help Apple gain more understanding and support from Chinese users, which is conducive to sales in the Chinese mainland market, Ma added.

"Given the rising tension between China and US and the trade and technology war, Apple's move to list BDS in its new iPhone could also been seen as a self-protection measure to avoid being hit in the war," Ma said.