As Chinese Preferences Shift, A Wakeup Call Awaits Luxury Brands

(jingdaily.com) - The Wall Street Journal recently published an article by Julie Wernau on how dramatically Chinese preferences are shifting from Western brands to Chinese brands. Look at smartphone sales, where foreign brand shares have dropped by 78 percent in ten years. In China, Apple only has a market share of 8.6 percent, ranking fifth behind Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaoimi — brands most Westerners have never heard of. Other categories aren’t dropping as radically, but the share of foreign cars has dropped by 13 percent during that span, and the share of watches by 6 percent. It’s a trend that should concern all Western companies.