on to a 40% share of the smartphone market in
North America, well ahead of Samsung’s 29.3%
and LG’s 14.4%. But it’s internationally where
Apple’s dominance is slipping, with Huawei
taking over Apple’s market share in China,
where its smartphone sales rose 50% in the last
quarter compared to 2018 at the same time as
Apple’s sales fell 20%. Globally, Huawei’s share
in the smartphone market reached its highest
ever level at 17% in the first quarter of 2019,
demonstrating the power of Asian brands
which are not only innovating much faster
than Apple (introducing features like notch-less
displays and 5G technology) but benefit from
lower manufacturing costs and government
incentives. What’s more, companies like Huawei
offer a range of handsets, many below $400,
which appeal not only to price-conscious
Western consumers but Asian consumers who
typically have lower levels of disposable income
and cannot pay US$1,000 for a phone.GROWING COMPETITION
FROM NEW PLAYERS
Once considered a two-horse race between
Apple and Samsung, Apple now faces growing
competition from the likes of LG, Huawei,
Xiaomi, OnePlus, and now Google. Whilst
Google may have struggled to generate much
interest in its Pixel smartphone range initially,
the Pixel 3 is widely considered to feature the
world’s best camera inside of a smartphone,
and comes jam-packed with a host of Google-
exclusive features that set it apart from Samsung
and Apple. With the Pixel 4, rumored for release
just weeks after Apple’s September event, where
the company will show off its iPhone XI and XIImage: Angela Lang