Several major Chinese smartphone vendors are forming a consortium with a supplier to invest in AMOLED production in 2017, mainly out of worries that Apple will end up monopolizing panel supplies with upcoming iPhones, according to reports.
Shares of Apple increased nearly 2 percent today to close at $98.79, close to the peak the stock has traded since diving below $100 after the company reported its fiscal Q2 earnings. Within two weeks, Apple will announce its earnings for Q3, which ended in June.
During the March quarter Apple's iPhone remained firmly in second place in global smartphone marketshare, but saw a significant drop year-over-year to 15.3 percent, ceding some ground to up-and-coming Chinese vendors.
Chinese and Taiwanese smartphone suppliers are reportedly scaling back component production in the wake of Apple's iPhone SE, which appears to be impacting the sales of local smartphone brands.
Despite the country being a key market continuing to see tremendous growth, Apple nevertheless lost ground in China to native phonemakers Xiaomi and Huawei during the June quarter, according to Canalys market research data teased on Monday.
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Roger Fingas
Daniel Eran Dilger
