Apple Inc (AAPL)

[tw0122]

Long-time Apple users in China have started framing Huawei purchases as acts of patriotism.

“There is a calling from my heart that I need to show support for Chinese brands, especially in the trade war climate,” said Wang Zhixin, a manager at one of China’s largest solar module manufacturers. Earlier this month Wang retired his three-year-old iPhone 7 and got a Huawei P30.

He explained that Huawei was not entirely chosen out of sympathy. “The company has a reputation for better quality at a cheaper price… [The P30] is faster and can take better pictures.”

Another former Apple fan, Sam Li, who works at a state-owned telecom company in Beijing, said that “It’s kind of embarrassing to pull an iPhone out of your pocket nowadays when all the company executives use Huawei.”

China is Apple’s largest overseas market, accounting for up to 25 percent of its total sales in the most recent quarter. Last year, Apple ranked as China’s fifth most popular smartphone brand with a 9.1 percent market share in the country. The company makes roughly 25 percent of its revenues and profits in China, which is the world’s largest market for smartphones. Apple’s market share in China has already fallen to seven percent in the first quarter of 2019, mainly due to Chinese consumers’ growing support for domestic phones