iPhones Are Too Expensive, Apple Is Losing Market Share Of High-End Smartphone Segment In China To Huawei

Karamchand Rameshwar - Mar 25, 2019

From more than 84% market share of high-end smartphones in China, after one year, Apple's iPhone only accounted for more than 50% market share of this segment.

Apple is struggling to maintain the market share of its smartphones in the Chinese market while many Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Huawei are increasing competitiveness to seize the market with Cupertino-based giant.

A lot of reports have all pointed to the main cause of this decline, but none can fully confirm the exact number. However, thanks to a recent Reuters’ report, we can now know the level of consumers in China turned their backs on Apple.

The report shows that market share of Apple in China on the high-end phone segment, with prices from US$ 500 USD to US$ 800 USD, has dropped from 81.2 percent to 54.6 percent and this is the main segment Apple is currently operating in the Chinese phone market. The situation may be worse when the majority of the existing iPhone devices are priced at US$ 1,000 or higher, such as the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

Meanwhile, the Chinese users’ attitude towards the iPhone X lineup is also worrying. Neil Shah, Counterpoint’s Research Director, said:

The lack of important features compared to Chinese rivals also contributes to Chinese users ignoring Apple. While their smartphones are usually equipped with a single or dual rear camera setup, Huawei offerings pack up to three cameras at the back, the Huawei P20 Pro or Huawei Mate 20 Pro for example, at more affordable prices.

This helped Huawei to grab more market share in the high-end phone segment in the Chinese market. Within just a year, its market share in the segment jumped from 8.8 to 26.6 percent. Huawei Mate 20 and Huawei P20 Pro are two main devices that help attract customers in China.

According to He Fan, the CEO of Huishoubao, a company buys as well as resells used phones, he is seeing Chinese users shift to Huawei from Apple, because Huawei cameras are significantly better than Apple which is in accordance with Chinese consumer habits.

While iPhone sales slumped, shipments of smartphones above $600 in the Chinese market rose 10 percent in 2018. Additionally, Apple's poor sales last year not only happened within China but also in the global market, leading to a lot of factories operating at only half the capacity compared to the past.