“Apple’s bid to expand in China could get more challenging as it faces ramped up price competition from Samsung and a possible cut in smartphone subsidies at a major state-owned agency, an analyst said Tuesday,” Benjamin Pimentel reports for MarketWatch.
“UBS analyst Steven Milunovich said Apple may feel the impact of Samsung’s effort to shore up its share of the smartphone market in China, which has taken a hit according to the Korean company’s pre-announced results. Milunovich said Samsung is expected ‘to get more aggressive on pricing in China with the aim of thwarting scale gains by local vendors,'” Pimentel reports. “Milunovich said Apple could also be hurt by the reported plan of China’s state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Council to push ‘telcos to reduce their sales and marketing costs by about 20%, out of which handset subsidies likely amount to more than one-third.'”
Pimentel reports, “He noted that up to 60% of smartphone sales in China are subsidized, ‘so a reduction in subsidies could weigh on the high end of the market where Apple participates.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Back to the old “carriers might reduce subsidies” FUD. Come up with a new scare tactic, Stevie.
Apple customers are swayed by cheap BOGOF iPhone knockoffs and wannabes. Apple iPhone is the aspirational smartphone.