China is dragging smartphone market to worst year in a decade

Apple Inc. is seen as relatively well-placed to weather the downturn, however, as its iPhone is set for a significant upgrade cycle in the latter half of the year. While Chinese brands like Xiaomi Corp. and Oppo have to compete for customers with every new device, Apple benefits from hundreds of millions of users who will only upgrade within its hardware ecosystem.

“So far this year it’s been record low upgrades across all carriers,” said Jeff Fieldhack, Counterpoint research director for North America. “The iPhone 15 launch is a window for carriers to steal high-value customers. And with that big iPhone 12 installed base up for grabs promos are going to be aggressive, leaving Apple in a good spot.”