While local competitors soared, Apple’s numbers dropped 9% compared to the same period last year — down to 9.8 million units.

This is the seventh consecutive quarter Apple has seen its shipment volume shrink in China. For a company that once shaped global tech culture, that’s a worrying trend.

At the heart of the issue? Pricing. Apple is sticking to its high-end strategy, but that playbook isn’t working anymore — at least not in China.

A new wave of government subsidies, rolled out in January, is giving Chinese consumers a 15% rebate on devices priced below 6,000 yuan (about $820). Most iPhones don’t qualify. But brands like Xiaomi do, and they’re cashing in.

Xiaomi shipped 13.3 million phones — a 40% jump from the same time last year. That puts it comfortably ahead of Apple in market share, as more Chinese buyers choose value over brand prestige.

“The subsidy scheme is clearly designed to boost domestic consumption, but it’s also giving Chinese brands a strong edge,” said IDC analyst Will Wong. “Apple’s premium pricing structure has prevented the U.S. company from capitalising on new government subsidies.”

Overall, China’s smartphone market grew by 3.3% in Q1. So while the pie got bigger, Apple’s slice got smaller. Its market share now sits at 13.7%, down from 17.4% in the previous quarter — a sharp drop in such a competitive space.

Now, to be fair, Apple isn’t doing badly in shipments everywhere. Globally, it shipped 57.9 million phones in Q1 — its best first-quarter performance ever, with a 10% increase year-on-year.

But China isn’t just another market. It’s the world’s largest consumer electronics battlefield, and losing ground here sends a strong signal.

Chinese consumers are changing. They’re more price-sensitive, more nationalistic, and less dazzled by the Apple logo. And with brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo offering sleek design and solid performance at lower prices — backed now by government support — Apple’s old charm isn’t quite cutting it.

The company has a decision to make. Stick to its high-margin strategy and risk further erosion in one of its most important markets? Or rethink its approach to pricing and product positioning in China?

Anyways, this is beyond being one bad quarter. It’s about whether Apple can still compete in a market that’s no longer waiting to be impressed.

Latest statistics by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), shows MTN’s dominance with over 40 percent GSM market share, TechEconomy can report.

The report by NCC containing statistics up to February 2023 was released on March 27, 2023.

It shows information on the number of active subscribers for telephony services on each of the licensed service providers utilizing different technologies including GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code-division multiple access), Fixed Wireless and Fixed Wired (i.e. Landline).

TechEconomy’s review of the NCC report shows MTN with 92,707,154 subscribers occupies 40.87 percent of the market, followed by Globacom (Glo) with 60,755,096 subscribers at 26.78 per cent market share.

Glo is closely followed by Airtel at 26.58 percent market share with 60,300,140 subscribers. 9mobile trails with 13,073,342 subscribers accounting for 5.76 percent of the market share.

From the report, CDMA and Fixed Wireless markets are dormant presently.

Fixed Wired

Nigeria has 96,766 the Fixed Wired (i.e. Landline) as at February 2023. 21st Century dominates the market with 85,567 lines; an improvement from 85,491 the company recorded in January. MTN Fixed trails with 7,523 lines, followed by Glo Fixed accounting for 2,708 lines. ipNX comes a distant fourth with 968 lines.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

Nigeria has 247,448 subscribers using the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services as at February 2023, TechEconomy can report.

Smile Communications is the market leader with 246,185 subscribers.

The second operator in that space is ntel. The company accounts for 1,263 subscribers as at February 2023.

Telecommunications operators are obligated, under the terms of their licenses, to provide the NCC with data on services, tariffs, technology, and subscribers, on a regular basis for analytical review and publishing.