I think it's a mix of people not needing to upgrade as often mixed with people going for mid-rangers that are simply almost as good as the flagships these days. The latter is especially true outside of North America.
When you think about it, several-year-old devices were never as similar to newest flagships, and so are the newest mid-rangers. Like we discussed several times already, there aren't many reasons to upgrade anymore, and people are slowly catching up with the fact that their iPhone 6S or 7 (that traditionally would be due for an upgrade) does exactly the same things that a new XR or XS would, and actually does them perfectly well. Why spend a grand then?
Not just in terms of hardware or iPhones that have been more than good enough for a few generations now, but if your Android phone is not supported anymore, that's not even something that people care about anymore, as newer software versions bring nothing new that's worth anyone's attention as well. There's nothing exciting happening making people want to have it - just slow progression and slightly better reiterations of the same things.
By the way, the drama of Qualcomm working with the Chinese government to ban iPhone sales in China is hilarious. Surprisingly, they might have a shot considering the political climate and the fact that Apple is the largest (and now rather unwanted) competitor to Huaweii, Xiaomi and Oppo in China.
They actually banned the iPhone X and 8 already. Now they're working to ban the XR, XS and XS Max, so pretty much all iPhones that are still being sold. The way I see it, either Apple backs down and pays Qualcomm the big money that they're asking for, or Qualcomm and the Chinese makers will be very happy as Apple does get indeed banned there.
https://www.gsmarena.com/qualcomm_ban_iphone_xs_iphone_xr_china-news-34701.php
When you think about it, several-year-old devices were never as similar to newest flagships, and so are the newest mid-rangers. Like we discussed several times already, there aren't many reasons to upgrade anymore, and people are slowly catching up with the fact that their iPhone 6S or 7 (that traditionally would be due for an upgrade) does exactly the same things that a new XR or XS would, and actually does them perfectly well. Why spend a grand then?
Not just in terms of hardware or iPhones that have been more than good enough for a few generations now, but if your Android phone is not supported anymore, that's not even something that people care about anymore, as newer software versions bring nothing new that's worth anyone's attention as well. There's nothing exciting happening making people want to have it - just slow progression and slightly better reiterations of the same things.
By the way, the drama of Qualcomm working with the Chinese government to ban iPhone sales in China is hilarious. Surprisingly, they might have a shot considering the political climate and the fact that Apple is the largest (and now rather unwanted) competitor to Huaweii, Xiaomi and Oppo in China.
They actually banned the iPhone X and 8 already. Now they're working to ban the XR, XS and XS Max, so pretty much all iPhones that are still being sold. The way I see it, either Apple backs down and pays Qualcomm the big money that they're asking for, or Qualcomm and the Chinese makers will be very happy as Apple does get indeed banned there.
https://www.gsmarena.com/qualcomm_ban_iphone_xs_iphone_xr_china-news-34701.php
But Apple tells them to fuck off, would it really matter since even CDMA carriers, like Sprint and VZW in the US, are moving to VoLTE and wouldn't need CDMA radios anymore?
I know the SD chips are in almost every big-name phone but if we're talking Apple specifically, this might give them the kick to put out their own chipset that's been rumored for years. I'm sure they've already gotten work done on it in all this time and that's what may give them leverage in this situation. Which they likely anticipated.
I mention this because I know China is a big user of CDMA phones/networks as well. But doesn't VoLTE and its prospective use worldwide give Apple and other OEMs all the cards? This might start a race for carriers to actually expand VoLTE faster in order to accommodate the latest iPhone and its users.