Highlights:
In January, Digit partnered with industry insider Steve Hemmerstoffer (aka OnLeaks) to publish the first ever renders of the 2019 Apple iPhone XI. We not only published the high-quality images and video, but also said that the Cupertino-based giant would continue with the current three-iPhone trend this year as well. Forbes (via Macotakara) has now confirmed that Apple will indeed come with a three-camera system housed within a protruding square enclosure on the back, corroborating our initial leak. However, the tech news website has reported a different lens setup, and does not say anything about the three-phone lineup.
Citing Japanese site Macotakara, Forbes says that Apple’s Chinese supply chain have confirmed the so-called iPhone XI will feature a triple camera array which is housed in a large protruding square on the back of the phone. The difference between our leak and the latest image is the alignment of the lenses. Macotakara shows that the lenses are more aligned in a symmetrical fashion.
We have already seen a triple camera setup in a square housing on Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro and the latest image shows an iPhone sporting a similar camera module design. Apple has been struggling with a declining market share due to the high price of the iPhones and the US-China trade war. In fact, the iPhone-maker can be dubbed as the worst-hit casualty of the trade war as it was slapped with a ban on iPhone sales in China (one of the biggest markets for the company) and in Germany.
When it comes to India, Apple's 2018 performance in the country was called “disastrous” by several analysts. While Counterpoint Research pegged Apple's India shipments at 1.6-1.7 million in 2018, CyberMedia Research predicted them at nearly 2 million – both lower than 3.2 million in 2017. According to analysts, highly priced iPhones were unable to compete with rivals, including OnePlus, which offer better features at half or even a third of the cost of iPhones.
Famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a rocky start of 2019 for the Cupertino-based company on a global level, claiming that iPhone sales will continue to be weak in the first half of 2019. Further, Taiwan-based firm Trendforce said that with its P series and Mate series, Huawei expanded its share in the premium segment of the Chinese smartphone market, where Apple used to dominate. It said that Huawei, currently at loggerheads with the US government, could overtake Apple’s spot in the near future.
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