According to an IDC report in January, global smartphone shipments fell nearly 5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
That could in part be due to customers around the world holding onto their phones for longer periods.
But Apple’s slump in sales in emerging markets like China and India also come down to its expensive price range.
Compared to smartphones from China, iPhones are not cheap. For instance, the iPhone XS Max, costs nearly $1,400 — about twice the price of Huawei’s Mate 20 and nearly three times the cost of Xiaomi Mi Mix 3.
iPhone prices are “just too expensive,” Kiranjeet Kaur of IDC told CNBC last week. “At what iPhones used to sell at earlier, there’s like lots of competition coming in … especially from Huawei.”
Chinese players have also been coming up with new features that have created a distinction for the Chinese brands, said Kaur. “Consumers no longer feel that the Chinese players are just following what some of the global players, or what Apple is doing — but rather they are stepping up the game and creating their own new trends in the market.”
