BANGKOK On a recent Saturday morning, the MBK Center, a regional mecca for electronic gadgets in the heart of the Thai capital, was crowded with young technology buffs. Just days earlier, Apple had unveiled its iPhone X, but despite the worldwide buzz over the tech giant's latest smartphone, a starting price tag of $999 means the high-end handset will struggle to find a broad audience here -- or anywhere else in Southeast Asia.
While the iPhone and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy lead the global smartphone market by sales, Southeast Asia's consumer landscape is a different story. In a region home to some 600 million people, Chinese vendors are gaining ground -- one in five smartphones shipped locally are Chinese brands.
