Apple rolled out its latest iPhone, the 6S last week, but unlike past debuts of new Apple products, not too many people in China seem too excited about it.

iPhone 6S battles 6 and domestic phones in China

Just two days after Apple released its latest mobile product, the iPhone 6S, CCTV reporter asked around Shanghai streets to see how people were reacting. The lack of enthusiasm was notable.

“I won't buy it because it looks just like an iPhone 6. If I bought it, there would be no way for people to tell I bought the latest one because they look just the same, and I wouldn't be able to show off. I think that's a really big problem,” one interviewee said.

“Apple's strategy is to have very few updates in its new models from the past ones. So for me as an old user, I don't feel I need to buy the new one because there's not much difference,” another said.

Other Apple products do remain quite popular on the market, however. Many mobile retailers in Shanghai cut their prices for the iPhone 6 and the 5S by around 15-20 percent as soon as iPhone 6S was released. The sales for these products immediately rose.

"This moring we sold around 20-30 units, we estimate it will be 70 to 80 tonight. That's triple the usual sales," said Zhu Xiang, Director, Yolo Shanghai Longemont Brach.

Apple is known for launching its new products every September. That makes the third quarter a hot season for other tech brands to beat them to market.

Almost a dozen domestic phone makers, including Coolpad, Huawei and Smartisan have launched or scheduled launches for their new phones recently.

Wang from IHS says most of these have become a popular choice for second or third mobile phone ownership.

"iPhones only have a single SIM card slot, but many business people may have several sim cards for differents uses," he said.

"So what we've seen is that more and more people are buying an iPhone, and then also buying a quality smartphone that sells for just several thousand yuan. This could be an opportunity for domestic phone makers."

While the iPhone 6S may not surpass its previous generations' popularity in China, the country still remains Apple's biggest market. Asset management company Piper Jaffray estimates that China could wind up accounting for 30% of the total orders during the first 24 hours the 6S spent on the market.

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