Brendan James: takeaways from the east, January 2019

Are the new flagship phones enough to make up for a lack of consumer support in China? Why does India continue to beat the odds?

From a devices standpoint, this is a very interesting and exciting time in smartphones. Xiaomi’s Mi 9 and Mi Mix 4 are just around the bend, upping the ante on the rear triple-camera trend that Huawei kicked off with an unprecedented periscope lens offering enhanced zooming capabilities. In the Chinese market, Vivo and Oppo are making gains, besting Xiaomi to become the top two domestic smartphone manufacturers in year-on-year shipment rankings as of Q3 2018. And this is all before mentioning the introduction of artificial intelligence into device functions, which we touched upon last issue!

Will these dazzling new additions to flagship phones translate to sales?

Apparently not. The overall volume of shipments in China are on the decline, per a report from Gizmo China. Reporting a 6.9% YoY drop for Q3, the amount of product moving could shrink as much as 10% YoY for Q4. Why? The Handelot Times has told you about the saturation of the Chinese market in the past, but there are more underlying structural factors at work in the drop.