Shrinking iPhone Market Share in China Driving Case Makers Toward Apple Rivals

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple’s falling market share in China is prompting local electronics accessory makers to give more attention to phones and tablets made by rival Samsung among other electronics manufacturers. Specifically, the report cites competitive, feature-rich products from the likes of Samsung as well as various cheap phones by other mobile handset makers.

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A shift to devices from Samsung, Lenovo Group Ltd. and a widening array of Chinese makers offering cheaper handsets is pushing up costs for those that previously relied on the iPad and iPhone, said Vincent Kwok, chief executive officer of Guangzhou-based Magic Kingdom, a maker of protective cases. [...]

“The market is now moving toward Samsung and brands from China, so we’ve enlarged our product line,” said Kwok, who has also added products from Xiaomi and Oppo. “Expanding our product line has reduced the risk for us. To focus on Apple is too dangerous.”

Bloomberg's report comes alongside a separate claim stating that the iPhone 5S and Apple’s low-cost iPhone 5C are set to launch in China on November 28th, which would likely bring an influx of new iPhone owners in the region. China Mobile, the world’s biggest carrier, as well as one that notably does not carry the iPhone, is said to be in talks with Apple about carrying its mobile device with both sides feeling positive that a deal will happen.

Apple will reportedly unveil the next-generation iPhone on September 10, and will likely unveil not only the iPhone 5S but also the lower-cost plastic iPhone 5C. Both devices are also rumored to launch in the first wave of markets on September 20.

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Top Rated Comments

Tankmaze Avatar
143 months ago
sensationalist headline and news by bloomberg, a lot of these case manufactures already diversified their product since samsung galaxy S2 launched.

you can find lots and lots of cases for flagship phones here in singapore.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
143 months ago


App developers will be saying the same thing. Stick with Apple and you will see less profits because more people buy Android. Apple is the only one to blame.

Yes... but you're forgetting that more people are also buying more terrible smartphones that cost $80

There are tons of cheap whitebox phones sold in developing nations. The category of "other" is pretty big.

Someone who is only spending $80 on a smartphone will not be spending a ton of money on apps.

So yeah... more people are buying phones that run Android. But a lot of those phones are garbage phones... and those phones are not getting developers excited.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aristotle Avatar
143 months ago
App developers will be saying the same thing. Stick with Apple and you will see less profits because more people buy Android. Apple is the only one to blame.
Right so stick with Apple and get profits or switch to android, spend more money on development because you have to reinvent features found in the Cocoa Touch frameworks and expect a greater share of zero dollars because most Android users are too cheap to pay for software.

Protip: 0 dollars X 100,000 = 0 dollars X 1,000,000 = Zero dollars.
;)

Given the extra development costs you could end up with some value of negative dollars profit.

You cannot make it up on volume if nobody is buying.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cambox Avatar
143 months ago
In all honesty I think Apple have lost there way in recent years, lets hope they can regain market confidence and get back their mojo soon.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cdmoore74 Avatar
143 months ago
App developers will be saying the same thing. Stick with Apple and you will see less profits because more people buy Android. Apple is the only one to blame.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mudman2 Avatar
143 months ago
I am so sick of cheap chinese cases
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)