For the past three months, iPhone sales have steadily fallen in China, and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) currently accounts for only about 19.8% of the country’s smartphone market, according to statcounter analysis. This compares with over 43% market share it held in China in April 2017.

Apple has been facing tough competition from locally-made domestic brands, which boasts of almost similar features at a much smaller price tag.

Shenzhen-headquartered Huawei is currently the most popular smartphone brand in China with a 24% market share. Xiaomi, Oppo, Mobicel, and Samsung are the other smartphone vendors in the fray.

Worldwide, Huawei is the third-largest smartphone vendor with a market share of 9%, trailing Samsung and Apple. Samsung continues to beat its American rival by consistently maintaining over 30% market share, even as Apple struggles to push its market share beyond 22%.

Apple has been struggling with falling shipments over the past year despite launching three new phones in 2018, as people are reluctant to spend over $1,000 for smartphones. In fact, Apple’s cheapest of the three models last year, iPhone XR, became more popular than the more expensive flagship model XS Max.

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Apple is trying to correct its mistake this year, by promoting a $700-priced iPhone 11 as its flagship model, instead of its costlier models iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max.  

The company expects this move to act as a stimulus, not just in the US, but in international markets as well. Shipping of the new iPhone models will start on September 20.

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