Never has an Apple press event been quite as unintentionally revealing as the one in Cupertino yesterday.

In some ways, the presentation was lifted straight out of the Apple textbook: the company revealed a Minority Report-esque fingerprint reader called Touch ID that promises both to beef up mobile security and grease the wheels for in-app purchases.

Yesterday also saw Apple's Jony Ive deliver, in typical Nathan Barley style, his ode to plastic, lifting the lid on the supposedly 'cheaper' iPhone that commentators are already suggesting is the device he's always wanted to design.

The sexy new features we've become accustomed to were all there. Yet, if you scan through social media channels that usually collectively orgasm at the mere thought of an Apple press event, the buzz most definitely wasn't.

Not so big on buzz

Why? Apple's iOS devices tend to be about the new. The progressive. The innovative. This event had very little of that.

Much attention was placed on the iPhone 5S's A7 chip – making it the first 64 bit phone (as if that's meant to mean anything to anyone) and the new gold SKU, but consumers aren't stupid. They're used to this routine now.

From form factor to delivery, the new iPhone is essentially a slightly better version of the iPhone they already own.

Even the most enthused evangelists are finding it hard to get excited about that.

The lack of buzz doesn't mean they're any less likely to buy one, of course – anyone who thinks iPhone 5S isn't going to sell like gangbusters is on another planet – but it is a notable reflection of Apple's shifting role in the mobile industry.

No, rather than the 5S, there were two elements that actually dominated Apple's latest press event – the latter of which was barely actually mentioned, serving as the elephant in the room. A great, big, Chinese element.

Unapologetically plastic

First of all, the very fact that Apple is, for the first time, launching a cheaper version of the iPhone ensured that it was the iPhone 5C, and not the 5S, that would dominate press coverage.

Wary of the damage that could do to what has always been a high end brand, iPhone 5C's reveal cleverly focused on the design aspects of the device.

Indeed, the message Apple tried to push constantly throughout its reveal was "this is not cheap, this is not cheap."

It was exactly the right way to play it. Nevertheless, the launch of cheaper handsets just isn't the kind of 'sexy news' we're used to taking away from Apple events.

The fact that this was the lead story much of the press focused on meant the splash as a whole was always going to lack the razzmatazz of previous shindigs, perhaps explaining the rather limp reaction across social media.

The second element that dominated the event – despite only the smallest of mentions – was the role iPhone 5C promises to play for Apple in China. The firm's big problem, however, is that the new handset risks solving none of the problems Apple is looking to address.

For most, a drop of $100 isn't enough of a price drop at all.

As one Chinese-focused analyst commented today, iPhone 5C is still an expensive phone, which makes you wonder why Apple went to the trouble of completely discontinuing the existing iPhone 5 – a handset it could have dropped into the iPhone 5C's price range – in favour of launching an entirely new device.

More crucially, it's my view that price isn't the only blocker in the way of Apple domination in China. Apple's closed ecosystem is anathema to the model Chinese consumers are used to.

An open secret

Lets be clear: even Android in the form Google serves up to OEMs is viewed to be too closed off for many Chinese consumers.

A large number of Android handsets sold in China run completely modified, barely recognisable versions of the OS that make no attempt to connect to Google Play.

This is a reflection of the Chinese market in general – one that, despite its size, console manufacturers have been averse to entering thanks to the country's somewhat weak enforcement of IP and copyright law.

So, what difference will a not-massively-cheaper version of a device that only accounts for less than 5 percent of the market as things stand make? Time will tell, but I'm skeptical it will have any meaningful impact.

Of more importance is the relationships Apple can strengthen with Chinese carriers.

What Apple needs to ignite is a change in consumer habits across China, hopefully sparking a willingness for consumers to be locked into the iOS ecosystem. That's the key to the Chinese market. Not cheaper handsets.

Same old story

It was this focus on targeting the lower end of the market, however, that helped make this the most revealing Apple event for some time. The internal struggle within Apple was there for all to see.

On the one hand, the company is still very much the product of Steve Jobs, looking to reveal features like Touch ID that leave the tech press salivating. On the other, it's now far more concerned with pleasing shareholders than it ever was under Jobs' tenure.

That's perhaps understandable, if only because the growth that was so easy to find at the start of iPhone's lifecycle is now becoming far more difficult to seek out.

Apple is fully aware that iPhone is close to its peak in many western territories, and Asia is the only market where it can deliver the sales expansion investors lust after. Whether it ends up missing the mark or not, iPhone 5C is a direct reaction to that – a device born out of a base desire to increase market share rather than to innovate.

Every successful company reaches this stage. They all struggle to innovate and grow with the same fervour they previously mastered.

What's more, you won't find an analyst out there who doesn't think moving into China is the right thing for Apple to do right now. It just means that we're going to have to get used to an Apple that's a little less focused on showbiz and a little more focused on its share price.