Apple’s doing well, but watch out for the Chinese

The tech space is an exciting place to be in these days. On one side are the social media networks, the platforms that have helped make smartphones ubiquitous, but are getting battered because of the controversy over fake news. Facebook and Twitter are witnessing a fall in number of users and profits. On the other hand, competition is fierce among smartphone players who are fighting harder for dominance and higher profits. Latest Apple results show revenue of $53.3 billion has surpassed projections by about a billion dollars. The share price has shot up, making Apple richer by a few more millions. The results are significant, primarily because this quarter is usually a slow one for Apple as customers hold on to their purchase plans and wait for new iPhone releases in September. But this year was different with the strongest third quarter ever. However, the irony is that Apple has lost market share to Huawei, a Chinese company that is fast gaining ground. Huawei now commands 15 per cent market share, compared with Apple’s 11 and Samsung’s 20. It is the first time that Apple is not among the top two smartphone players.

Apple is known for its innovative streak through its products and how it engages with its customers. It is the first one to push limits and test the psychological price-mark of $1,000 for the iPhone X, which didn’t put off customers in its prime markets but rather helped the tech giant beat expectations and earn higher revenue. However, tech dominance is sensitive to pricing, one of the reasons Samsung continues to rake in higher numbers consistently. Huawei, too, is shipping more smartphones than Apple and other players, producing cheaper phones with smarter features. Apple, meanwhile, has been upping its software and services revenue. Apple Pay continues to expand with over one billion transactions in the last quarter, which could well be the focus area for the tech giant in the future. More than two-thirds of the world population now has a mobile, with most people using a smartphone. The market isn’t saturated yet, there are many more frontiers to conquer. Going forward, Chinese players are expected to dominate the industry. Even though Apple is inching ahead to become the world’s first trillion-dollar company, the future of the smartphone industry lies in Chinese hands.