The iPhone 17e, the entry-level addition to Apple’s latest iPhone 17 series, faces an uphill battle in China’s highly competitive smartphone market, according to analysts, as presales for the new handset start on Wednesday.

The new budget-priced iPhone “lacks competitiveness”, said IDC China research manager Guo Tianxiang, who pointed out that the handset “still uses outdated moulds, with the chip being the only major upgrade”.

“The shortcomings in imaging and display persist, making its overall performance inferior to the slightly pricier iPhone 17 and Air models, as well as domestic flagship devices in the same price range,” Guo said.

According to Apple, the iPhone 17e features the latest-generation A19 chip and the C1X cellular modem. The latter doubles the new model’s speed compared with its predecessor, the iPhone 16e, launched in February last year.

Prices for the iPhone 17e start at 4,499 yuan (US$653), making its 256-gigabyte version eligible for the national subsidy scheme for gadgets capped at 6,000 yuan.

That would effectively reduce its retail cost to 3,999 yuan, priced on par with Chinese handsets such as Xiaomi’s 17 series and Huawei Technologies’ Nova 15 Ultra.

The iPhone 17e features only one rear camera and a 6.1-inch display, while the two Chinese smartphones have at least three lenses on the back and larger screens.