Apple may launch new iPhone without face ID in China: report

Apple is said to launch a new iPhone for the Chinese market. The new phone will not have Face ID, the facial recognition system for iPhone, and will instead feature a fingerprint sensor, news site caijing.com.cn reports.

Photo of Apple's logo and iPhone [File photo: VCG]

An industry insider explains that this move may be made because of the mounting cost pressures from the ongoing trade tension between China and the United States; and the American tech giant is trying to curb the plunge in sales in the Chinese market.

Apple has lost many Chinese users who prefer smartphones priced at around 5,000 yuan (about 731 US dollars). Plus there has been an increase in purchases of local brands like Huawei, OPPO and Vivo.

The major component of Face ID is a structured light laser emitter that appeared to be a costly component, and once omitted, it could lower the price of the iPhone.

The average price of smartphones sold in China was 2,523 yuan in 2018, and products worth over 4,000 yuan only accounted for 13 percent of the total, according to China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

It's not clear when the new iPhone model will be launched and this could be a preliminary plan, the report says.