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An Apple store in Shanghai, China, heavily advertises the orange iPhone 17 on November 4 last year. AFP Coalition
Apple, which had been declining in the Chinese market due to competition from domestic company Huawei, regained the market with the iPhone 17.
The ‘Hermes Orange’ strategy of targeting the tastes of the Chinese people worked.
The iPhone 17, in the same orange color as the symbol of French luxury brand Hermes, became popular among influencers, and as it became a symbol of wealth, the popularity of the iPhone 17 soared.
It is analyzed that this, combined with the smartphone replacement cycle, caused the iPhone explosion again.
The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 7th (local time) that Apple has captivated Chinese consumers again with a premium iPhone decorated in ‘Hermes Orange’.
Apple, which had been struggling for the past several years, did not have artificial intelligence (AI) functions, but simply by wearing the orange color, its sales in China increased by 38% to $26 billion in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the same period last year. It accounted for about 20% of Apple’s total sales.
Hermes Orange better than AI
Apple has significantly revamped the design of the iPhone 17 series.
Unlike other smartphones that stimulated consumers’ desires by adding artificial intelligence (AI) functions, Apple, which was relatively behind in the AI competition, focused on ‘how it would look.’
In particular, the color ‘Cosmic Orange’ that Apple applied to the iPhone 17 captivated the Chinese. In China, this color gained explosive popularity, being called ‘Hermes Orange’ because it is similar to the symbolic color of the French luxury brand Hermes.
Even if the AI function is not innovative, the emphasis on external changes so that anyone can tell that it is a ‘new product’ through its striking color, combined with Chinese consumers’ desire to show off, causing a box office sensation.
In particular, in conjunction with the so-called super cycle, the demand for large-scale device replacement that returned for the first time in four years since 2021, the iPhone 17 played a leading role in Apple’s recapture of the Chinese market.
“I too will succeed”
Orange has the characteristic of being adjacent to yellow, the color of the emperor, and gold, a symbol of wealth.
Gold and yellow may seem tacky if they are straightforward, but orange stimulates consumers’ desire for ‘success’ with a much more sophisticated feel while maintaining the splendor and intensity of gold.
Just as Chinese consumers like the number 8, which has a similar sound to ‘Bal’ (發), which means development and wealth, Chinese consumers are also enthusiastic about the color orange with the same meaning. The Chinese character for orange, ‘Deng (橙)’, is pronounced similarly to the Chinese character ‘成’ (成) for success. Both pronunciations are close to ‘cheong’ or ‘layer.’
Famous influencers promoted the orange iPhone as a symbol of wealth, and this easily visible color was perfect for satisfying the desire to show off. On social media, phrases such as “May all your wishes be orange (success)” become popular.
Nabila Popal, senior research director at market research firm IDC, said that improved performance such as cameras, chips, and batteries were effective, but noticeable design changes drove demand for replacement iPhones.
In addition, consumer complaints about Harmony OS, Huawei’s own operating system (OS), have even brought benefits to Apple.
Meanwhile, Apple performed well in the fourth quarter of last year despite the conflict between the U.S. and China, showing off its continued brand power.
dympna@fnnews.com Reporter Song Kyung-jae
date: 2026-02-07 20:16:00
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