Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#31

Post by raverbashing » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:29 AM UTC

entity345 wrote: post #14

threeseed wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People also forget that they shouldn't speak for a billion odd people. It's a big country with a lot of diversity both culturally and socioeconomically. The facts we do know are that (a) price affects sales, (b) China has a lot of well made, value focused phones and (c) Apple has already acknowledged their iPhones are expensive.

China is extremely homogeneous on the points I raised. I did not claim that they were the cause of the drop but simply that these are factors that may also be at play.

> China is extremely homogeneous on the points I raised.

Yes, those who disagree are sent to be "reeducated"

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#32

Post by baybal2 » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:29 AM UTC

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #27

potatofarmer45 wrote: post #26

I think what a lot of commentators are missing is that even without a trade war, IPhone shipments would have fallen in China. In the past, the android phones kept focussing on features (remember the s3 ads about how it had all these features missing in the 4/4s). Now, especially with Huawei, they've really mastered the art of branding and messaging on their products. When Huawei listed a phone with 3 cameras and cost…

What do the 3 cameras do?

Supposedly better than 2 cameras, but not as good as 5 or 7 cameras.

Still, you can proudly tell people "my phone has more cameras than yours" :)

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#33

Post by entity345 » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:30 AM UTC

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #30

entity345 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you picking on this and ignoring my original comment? Simpler to repeat the same thing again and again without thinking, isn't it? I thought mature discussions was what HN was about. I'm sorry to see that bigotry is rife.

Bringing up a fact of 50-80 million lives lost is not “picking on” something.

Now, that's pure bad faith. The point is that that has absolutely nothing to do with the discussion.

I find amusing that those so vocal against that period of Chinese history use the exact same methods to destroy critical discussion.

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#34

Post by ninedays » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:31 AM UTC

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #27

potatofarmer45 wrote: post #26

I think what a lot of commentators are missing is that even without a trade war, IPhone shipments would have fallen in China. In the past, the android phones kept focussing on features (remember the s3 ads about how it had all these features missing in the 4/4s). Now, especially with Huawei, they've really mastered the art of branding and messaging on their products. When Huawei listed a phone with 3 cameras and cost…

What do the 3 cameras do?

It doesn't really matter as long as it creates a sense of uniqueness for the consumer. Remember all these octo-cores smartphones that were supposed to perform way better than the two-cores smartphones? It's only there to tell you "3 cameras are better than 2" even though no one understands what it does. Same with cores : "wow 8 cores? 8 is such a big number compared to 2 cores therefore it must be way better/faster"

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#35

Post by robk » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:31 AM UTC

If you look at market share though it seems to actually be holding solid or growing [1]. This makes me believe a more neutral narrative that it's due to people upgrading from lousy low end android to higher end android much faster than an existing iPhone user would upgrade. The top 25% of the population use iPhones and aren't leaving the Apple platform - the folks who bought a low end phone are upgrading to higher end much more rapidly. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/262176/market-share-held...

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#36

Post by entity345 » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:32 AM UTC

raverbashing wrote: post #31

entity345 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China is extremely homogeneous on the points I raised. I did not claim that they were the cause of the drop but simply that these are factors that may also be at play.

> China is extremely homogeneous on the points I raised. Yes, those who disagree are sent to be "reeducated"

I'm living this 'discussion' now.

The reactions to my comment are absolutely appalling.

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#37

Post by raverbashing » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:34 AM UTC

entity345 wrote: post #36

raverbashing wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> China is extremely homogeneous on the points I raised. Yes, those who disagree are sent to be "reeducated"

I'm living this 'discussion' now. The reactions to my comment are absolutely appalling.

"Doctor, it hurts when I do this" "Then stop doing it"

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#38

Post by SiVal » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:40 AM UTC

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #27

potatofarmer45 wrote: post #26

I think what a lot of commentators are missing is that even without a trade war, IPhone shipments would have fallen in China. In the past, the android phones kept focussing on features (remember the s3 ads about how it had all these features missing in the 4/4s). Now, especially with Huawei, they've really mastered the art of branding and messaging on their products. When Huawei listed a phone with 3 cameras and cost…

What do the 3 cameras do?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this means three "lenses" on the main camera, not three cameras. And I'm excited to see what future cameras with multiple lenses, synthetic aperture techniques, and lots of computation will provide.

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#39

Post by Aloha » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:43 AM UTC

entity345 wrote: post #7

eastendguy wrote: post #5

Next headlines: 2020: European Car Shipments Plunge in China as XXX(#) Tightens Grip 2025: Tesla Car Shipments Plunge in China as YYY(#) Tightens Grip (#) Any local company currently in favor with the ruling party.

That's simplistic. People forget, or simply don't know, that Chinese are extremely patriotic and that they remember how "the foreign powers" treated them in the past. Considering what's happening between the US and China, and about Huawei, we can't discard the possibility that Chinese consumers reacted by supporting their country.

When did these foreign powers mistreat China? The 19th century? Most nationals cultural memories are not that long - specifically one that has been thru three major revolutions in a century.

Whatever the cause of lower iPhone sales, I'm skeptical it's what you claim - sunspots seem more likely to me.

Re: Apple's iPhone Shipments Plunge in China as Huawei Tightens Grip

#40

Post by alkonaut » Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 10:45 AM UTC

cm2187 wrote: post #9

I’d expect the same to happen in a recession in the western world. People do not buy luxury products in a recession and if they absolutely need to replace a device, will pick one half the price that’s good enough. Though the business model of tech giant is new, for most, the market in which they evolve isn’t. Facebook and Google’s revenues are essentially advertising, another source of revenues that is very pro-cycli…

Manufacturers will ensure phone companies ensure customers buy new phones.

In the odd event that my iPhone lasts the 24months without having a major hardware hickup (such as being shattered), somehow all the rebates disappear from my plan. A rep from my phone company calls me and says I can get a new 24 months plan WITH a new iphone, and since the new one would get the rebates I just lost, it's effectively the same monthly cost including the new phone. Being the sucker that I am, I accept and I have a new phone.

I'm sure I could find a company that sells me a plan that would become cheaper instead of stripped of all rebates once my 24 months are over. But I'm also lazy and don't want to switch mobile networks as my current network has the best coverage in the rural areas I need to go to.

It's a plan plan that is both simple and clever: instead of lowering the prices for buying new phones, what they do is just raise the price of NOT buying a new phone.