SILICON VALLEY -- Apple recently reported an increase in net profit in the April-June term, its second straight quarterly jump. Credit went to "special demand" for the iPhone from customers of China Mobile Communications, the world's biggest mobile phone service provider, with more than 700 million users.
But that demand may be on the wane. "Apple's smartphones are expensive," said a man in his 20s who was checking out iPhones at the Apple Store in China Central Mall, the U.S. company's largest directly run outlet in Beijing, in the Dawanglu commercial district. "Next time, I think I'll buy a Xiaomi" model.
