According to the latest research data, although Apple's shipments in the Japanese smartphone market in the fourth quarter of last year fell by 10.5% year-on-year, the iPhone is still very popular in this market. Research firm Canalys said the company had a 56% market share in the December quarter. In the Japanese market, the closest competitor to Apple is Sharp, which is far ahead of the second with 9.8%.
In fact, local Android brands such as Sharp and Sony are facing increasing pressure from competitors such as Samsung, Huawei and Google.
Canalys estimates that iPhone XR accounted for 39.8% of Apple's fourth-quarter shipments. However, this is because the operator's “active subsidy” is intended to offset the decline in demand caused by the high pricing of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. The iPhone XS series is said to be underperforming, with a total sales of only 1.4 million units, which is worse than the first quarter of the iPhone X.
In the Japanese market, pricing is an important factor. The average selling price of the Apple iPhone has dropped from $794 a year ago to $744. Canalys concluded: "The biggest challenge for Apple in 2019 is how to maintain a dominant position as carrier subsidies are cut, second-hand markets are growing, and competition from suppliers such as Huawei is growing."

In addition to Japan, Apple's performance in the two major Asian markets, China and India, is not good. The company's smartphone market in India accounted for only 1% of the market, while the iPhone's sales in the Chinese market fell by 26.7% in the fourth quarter of last year.