These Charts Show Why The iPhone Is In Trouble In The Global Smartphone Market
Today, Apple will introduce new smartphones to the world, along with its brand new mobile operating system, iOS 7. A lot is at stake for Apple.
At BI Intelligence, Business Insider's paid tech research service, we've focused recent coverage on Apple's troubles maintaining growth in the global smartphone market.
That comes through very clearly in the few charts we've prepared, below. Today, analysts are looking for an announcement of a new iPhone that will be less expensive and help Apple mount a resistance against the onslaught of cheaper phones powered by Google's Android operating system.
Meanwhile, it's important to see how Apple became a premium, but niche smartphone maker on the global stage.
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1. iPhone Performance: At first glance it may not seem like Apple's threatened. It still sells plenty of iPhones, and enjoys enviable profit margins on those sales. However, sales growth is not what it once was.
2. Global smartphone platform market share: In the bigger picture, Apple's steadily losing market share to other manufacturers' phones running Google's Android operating system. Apple may be profitable, but it's losing the platform game, which may spell trouble down the road.
5. The pricing strategy: Apple's total dependence on high-end smartphones makes it stick out like a sore thumb among smartphone companies. Most of these competitors run Android on their phones.
BII
4. Relying on discounted phones: How does Apple attack the low-end market now? Mainly by discounting older models like the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S. These have accounted for an increasingly large share of U.S. sales, pointing to the opportunity on the low-end.
