WSJ today posted this alarming chart of Chinese consumption-tax revenue:
https://i.imgur.com/2LzUKrz.png
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-economic-downturn-takes-...
Apple does see shrinking sales in other regions:
"iPhone shipments in India have dropped 40 percent so far in 2018 when compared with 2017"[1]
China and India are the 2 largest developing economies in the world. It's no surprise that Apple's high price strategy has struggled there. Charging $1,000 for a phone might be viable in developed economies, that's not the case in developing countries like China & India.
[1]https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/12/18/declining-iphone-...
"Huawei posted 33% global gains y/y, versus flat for Apple, and for Q3 in China, where Apple is reporting struggles, Huawei sales rose 13%. Have rising trade tensions created anti-American Sentiment???"
[0] https://twitter.com/quantbond/status/1080863553454780416
I think it's all about Apple losing share and being overpriced compared to competition, along with Chinese support for Chinese company.
A slow down will exacerbate this but as of now huge disparity compared to Huawei.
Here's an outline link for that WSJ article: https://outline.com/tH8sWn
And here's the passage that describes what goods are affected by that consumption tax:
> Consumption tax in China is imposed on luxury goods such as high-end cosmetics and jewelry, and items deemed environmentally unfriendly, like cars and gasoline.
I still have a had time finding the source of those data shown in the graph. Something isn't right. And remember those big drop are all happening in November and December period, because that is when Chinese are saving up for their Lunar New Year spending.
I don't buy the story of Apple down 50% YoY only because of Macros. If that was the case it would have shown in 17, and 18 as well. If Macros were worst other part of Services Sector would have shown. Single Days wouldn't break record, Mi, Huawei, Vivo, OnePlus, Oppo wont affected domestically.