Europe buying more Chinese phone brands as market starts to bounce back The first quarter of 2024 saw the European smartphone market register its first year-over-year increase in shipments since 2021, and Chinese brands are growing the most. Smartphone shipments in the first quarter of the year were ten percent higher than in the first quarter of last year according to Counterpoint Research, …
"How often do you buy a new phone?"
Just when the telcos turn off the particular technology eg analog, gsm, 2g, 3g (now), 4g, 4g(volte) and am compelled to buy a newer phone - usually the cheapest (+crappiest) as long as the screen is less than 6" (150mm) and does calls, sms/texts and hopefully can keep the time.
Some of the 4G phones don't do volte which is (or soon will be) required for voice calls by (some) providers here.
China's strategy is to make us so dependent on their products that a trade embargo would effectively mean we wouldn't be able to buy much of anything anymore. And politicians are smart enough to know that their voters won't accept that.
So they make token gestures like we're doing with Russia for waging war on Ukraine. We still buy their oil, but now it's labeled "LPG from India" or "oil from Kazakhstan." The only thing we've stopped is buying their oil going through pipelines because then it would be too obvious we really don't care that much.
ROFL.
'Profits are needed to keep a company in business (the other side of the coin is losing money on everything you sell).' Exactly what PRC companies are doing, making a profit.
"We can't let them." Whose this 'we'? The world's a big place and was dominated the UK via itas empire, which went tsup, and then by the USA, which made a mess and is now going Christofascist.
Meanwhile the PRC, India et al increased their trade and economics. Most '3rd. world' countries aren't overly enamoured of the USA and are only too happy to look elsewhere.
We blew it, specifically the types who now say 'We can't let them.'
If China invaded Taiwan, then most people would hold on to their phone and put it in a protective case so that it'll last as long as possible. TSMC (Taiwan) probably produces 80+% of smartphone SOCs in the world, with the remaining bits largely divided by SMIC (China) and Samsung (South Korea). Samsung doesn't even produce all their SOCs themself. They use many TSMC produced ones too.
Soon, a working smartphone would become close to a collectors item and a new one a pure luxury most people can't afford. Changing production to other areas would take much time and money.
I don't think they need to invade anyone for our legislators to find a reason to ban, sanction or tariff them. "Where there's a will......"
The fundamental problem with the Chinese is, as Janet Yellen told us, "over production". Capitalism, as we all know (or rather, as we've been told since the cradle), provides competitiveness that gives the most people the best goods at the lowest prices. Until its someone else selling the goods, that is. By that point our suppliers have gor fat, dumb and happy with a cosy cartel of a handful of suppliers carving up the market, keeping the cost of entry high, while using sophisticated yield management to ensure that the profitability is kept high with minimal capital investment (all the while using a complex web of subsidiaries and cross licensing to ensure that everyone pleads poverty, "they're barely able to get by").
The fault is in our model of capitalism. It only works when we get to resell cheap Chinese products at an obscene markup. If the Chinese dare to cut out the middleman........
Europe is helpless against the Chinese onslaught since we're too divided and corrupt to do anything about it. If Europe starts contemplating higher import duties on Chinese EV's (percentages that really matter, like 50% or 100%) the Chinese have a myriad of ways to turn on the screws. Germany's car makers will be the first to feel the pain of the screw turning.
And BYD is also building a factory in Hungary just in case the import tariffs amount to something more than a token amount.
This doesn't bode well for the Old Continent.
True, though they probably weren't alone. Though, the cheating itself was most likely a response to making bigger engines for heavier cars. As a result, the most efficient ICE, the diesel, got undeservedly bad press and has largely disappeared from personal vehicles when really it should be used in more, especially if you can reduce the need for greater acceleration and higher speeds. A continued focus on improving efficiency would probably have avoided the need to cheat.
Just imagine advertising campaigns focussing on smaller, lighter cars with greater range…
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