[gwright]

Why is the comparison always done to the newest, high end Apple phones? The iPhone 7 is still sold for $550 unlocked and $23/month on installment in the US. I assume it is also more reasonably priced in China as compared to the high end XS phones.

You don't have to purchase the most expensive iPhone to get a high quality phone from Apple. Attributing the decreased demand in China to the price of the most exclusive phone seems misguided to me.

[izacus]

Because they can buy a brand new Xiaomi Mi8 for 400$ and have a high-end phone not something 4 generations old. And they do - Xiaomi has incredible growth.

[scarface74]

Seeing that the iPhone 6s is faster than most “modern” Android phones and it isn’t even sold anymore. What does that say about modern Android phones?

[Redoubts]

And what if the Apple phone is better still than an Android 4 generations “ahead”?

And people complain iPhone buyers don’t look past marketing...

[wmf]

It's possible that many people in China can't even afford that. Back when the newest iPhone model was $650 I assume the N-2 model was priced even lower than $550.

[gwright]

Sure, but that is a different explanation than the demand for the new models is down, which is what one of the major narrative's seems to be over the last 24 hours.

[Spooky23]

The iPhone 7 was a big tipping point in performance and capability.