iPhone sales in China have been a disappointment for Apple, with a significant fall in sales since the launch of the iPhone XR, XS and XS Plus being cited by CEO Tim Cook as one of the key factors in Apple’s weak results.

Although a number of initiatives have been launched, including trade-in offers and price cuts, iPhone sales have not rallied in the country. A recent report from the South China Morning Post’s Sarah Dai, Meng Jing, and Zen Soo suggests that Apple has lost one of its few sustainable features.

The iPhone is no longer seen as a fashionable choice. In fact, it is seen as an embarrassing smartphone to have:

For Sam Li, who works at a state-owned telecom company in Beijing, switching from Apple to Huawei was also driven by emotion. “It’s kind of embarrassing to pull an iPhone out of your pocket nowadays when all the company executives use Huawei.”

It should be noted that these sentiments are coming from people in management roles of large organisations, but these choices are being publicised and will likely lead to a trickle-down effect in the market.

It’s also worth noting that relations between China and the US are not brilliant at the moment. There are rising political tensions over trade and Donald Trump’s war of words are inflaming the matter. There is also the blacklisting of Huawei this week which will no doubt see more support in China for the Chinese manufacturer, further weakening Apple’s place in the ecosystem.

Source: Forbes