China is undoubtedly one of the biggest global markets for technology. However, the Cupertino company which is holding on to the numero uno in US is failing to achieve good sales in China. The recent stats from the months of April to June show that it is facing tough competition from other brands that are offering cheaper devices at lower price. For instance, Samsung has numerous phones for China in all price categories.
Recently, it was in the news that Apple managed to sale more iPhones than expected. However, the demand for iPhones in China is fading away. Analysts are of the view that if this continues to happen, Apple will end up losing market in China. There are many local brands in China like Xiaomi and Vivo that are manufacturing and selling quality smartphones in mid-range category at low price.
While talking with the salesperson at various electronic outlets in China, we came to know that people prefer to buy Samsung smartphones as the company is offering plenty of attractive products. Some outlets didn’t even bother to put up iPhones on display citing that Apple devices don’t have much demand in China.
One of the reasons why Apple iPhones are not getting famous in China is that even before iPhone releases in China, many local vendors manufacture phones that look and even function like iPhone. Because of these replica iPhones, there aren’t many consumers left who want to buy the original iPhone.
Samsung has easily outperformed Apple in China. Locals and tourists in China prefer Samsung mainly because the number of different models it offers for the customers. On the other hand, Apple does not many variants of iPhone. Hence, electronic stores in China store up lots of Samsung devices.
According to one analyst the reason why Apple is losing market share in China is because the country itself is a diverse market and hence it is very significant to provide consumers with diverse products to cater to different kinds of customers. However, Apple doesn’t have many options in it sleeves and this has become Apple’s weak point in China.
Recently, a Chinese woman was electrocuted to death when she attended a call while the iPhone was kept on charging. It was later on found that she had been using a fake charger to charge her phone and this was the reason that led to her death. Now, Apple is urging its customers in China to not to use fake charger for charging iPhones.
Even the recent electrocution issue has dismayed potential customers to some extent to choose other brands over iPhone. Currently, Apple ranks on the fifth position in China with a market share of 9.7% and the market is being led by Samsung which has a market share of 17.7%. Even companies like Lenovo and Huawei are performing better than Apple in China. Apart from China, the Cupertino company is losing revenue in Aisa Pacific.
Many in China feel that Apple products are overpriced. The Apple iPad is also unable to attract many buyers because the competition is quite tough and many other brands are selling tablets at much lower prices.