New Apple products may be less innovative - analyst

A iPhone at an Apple Store in Hong Kong. (File photo/Xinhua)

The next generation of Apple's iPhones and iPads may not be as amazing as its previous models in light of intensified competition from other smartphone makers, an analyst at Swiss brokerage UBS Securities said Thursday.

Arthur Hsieh, chief electronics hardware analyst at UBS, said at a media briefing that he believes Apple's product roadmap in the near future would be "less innovative," while its rivals such as Samsung are set to launch more competitive products.

He said Samsung unveiled a flexible display at the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States in January and it is worth watching whether Samsung will launch new smartphones or tablet using this advanced technology in the second half of 2013.

Hsieh said the competition among electronics companies is expected to intensify in the third quarter of this year, possibly triggering a price war.

In the Apple supply chain in Taiwan, Hsieh said, the outlook is good for touchscreen suppliers in view of improving yield rates, and for optical lens makers that have moved toward high-end applications.

In addition, a shortening product cycle for smartphone makers is likely to open a window of opportunity for Taiwanese brand companies, which will have a "fairly good chance" in such a diversified mobile market if they step up their marketing efforts, he said.

US bank Citigroup said in a note earlier this week that Apple is unlikely to grow in the high-end smartphone segment this year due to the weakness of its iPhone 5.

The product's 4-inch display may have failed to satisfy most premium consumers' preference for screens larger than 4.7 inches, Citigroup said.

The bank said Apple is expected to launch a 4-inch iPhone 5S and a 4-inch low-end iPhone in July this year, but predicted that the iPhone 5S will likely look similar to the iPhone 5, leading to weak demand for the updated model.

Citigroup, meanwhile, forecast that Samsung will snatch 70%-80% of the smartphone market growth opportunity left by Apple's void, while the second-tier brands, including Taiwan's HTC, could still grow 25%-40% on an aggregated basis.