For the past three months, iPhone sales have steadily fallen in China, and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) currently accounts for only about 19.8% of the country’s smartphone market, according to statcounter analysis. This compares with over 43% market share it held in China in April 2017.
Apple has been facing tough competition from locally-made domestic brands, which boasts of almost similar features at a much smaller price tag.
Shenzhen-headquartered Huawei is currently the most popular smartphone brand in China with a 24% market share. Xiaomi, Oppo, Mobicel, and Samsung are the other smartphone vendors in the fray.
Worldwide, Huawei is the third-largest smartphone vendor with a market share of 9%, trailing Samsung and Apple. Samsung continues to beat its American rival by consistently maintaining over 30% market share, even as Apple struggles to push its market share beyond 22%.
Apple has been struggling with falling shipments over the past year despite launching three new phones in 2018, as people are reluctant to spend over $1,000 for smartphones. In fact, Apple’s cheapest of the three models last year, iPhone XR, became more popular than the more expensive flagship model XS Max.
Apple is trying to correct its mistake this year, by promoting a $700-priced iPhone 11 as its flagship model, instead of its costlier models iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max.
The company expects this move to act as a stimulus, not just in the US, but in international markets as well. Shipping of the new iPhone models will start on September 20.