Cooling China phone sales creates zero-sum game: opinion

A Xiaomi Corp. smartphone stands on display during a news conference in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, May 3, 2018. CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. will carry Xiaomi phones and other gadgets in its retail and telecoms stores around the world, the two companies said at the briefing. Photographer: Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg

Raise your hand if dollar signs pop into your mind when thinking about China’s 1.4 billion consumers. 

That was certainly true for mobile-phone makers in the 1990s and until 2012, when the country surpassed the US to become the world's largest smartphone market.