For the first time in five years, the iPhone wasn't the top selling smartphone in China
"While the smartphone user base is at an all-time-high and maturing, still bulk of the popular models are still skewed towards mid-end which outs a cap on growth for players such as Apple."-Counterpoint
"The key features which are driving smartphone market have been fast-charging, OLED displays, bigger batteries and dual cameras which were already available. But most were missing in the iPhone 6s. The iPhone 7 Plus has a bigger battery and dual camera but it was beyond the reach of most consumer in China because of price. In the iPhone 8, the OLED screen which is rumored will be a positive. I think the next model will be key for Apple."-Neil Shah, research director, Counterpoint
"The key features which are driving smartphone market have been fast-charging, OLED displays, bigger batteries and dual cameras which were already available. But most were missing in the iPhone 6s. The iPhone 7 Plus has a bigger battery and dual camera but it was beyond the reach of most consumer in China because of price. In the iPhone 8, the OLED screen which is rumored will be a positive. I think the next model will be key for Apple."-Neil Shah, research director, Counterpoint
Counterpoint says that Apple's failure to keep up with the overall growth in China's smartphone market has to do with the strong demand for mid-range handsets in the country. Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint, says that it will be a big positive for Apple if next year's premium model (the Apple iPhone 8 aka Ferrari) features an OLED display as rumored.
via CNBC




