Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET), the leading financial daily in Hong Kong, recently reported that the Mainland’s first quarter smartphone sales suffered a year-over-year decline of 21 percent. Total smartphone handset volume dropped below 100 million to 91 million. This was the lowest point since 2013 and was the biggest quarterly decline in history. With the exception of Huawei and Xiaomi, all smartphone vendors saw a sales decline. Apple iPhone’s sales ranking fell out of the top-four list. At this point, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi – all are domestic manufacturers – lead China’s smartphone market. The top-four occupy 73 percent of the Chinese Mainland market. Analysts expressed the belief that Apple’s lack of innovation (except for the iPhone X) and high price were the reasons for its loss. In the past two quarters, China’s smartphone market had already suffered a decline. Most of the consumers in the market have completed the conversion from basic phone to smartphone. As the quality and lifespan of a smartphone improve, customers have less of an interest in switching to a handset.
Source: Hong Kong Economic Times, April 27, 2018
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