Apple Inc’s Chinese smartphone shipments plummeted an estimated 20% in 2018’s final quarter, underscoring the scale of the iPhone maker’s retreat in the world’s largest mobile device arena against local rivals like Huawei Technologies Co.
The domestic market contracted 9.7% in the quarter, but Apple declined at about twice that pace, research firm IDC said in a report on Feb 11. A slowing economy, lengthening replacement times and the iPhone’s hefty price tag contributed to the US giant’s decline, it said. Xiaomi Corp fared even worse in the final months of last year, when shipments plunged almost 35%, the consultancy estimates.
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