In China, glass is barely half full for Apple

Strangely few people applauded Apple for making the largest quarterly earnings by any company. Instead, many media outlets seem to regard it as a cause for concern, especially because of iPhone's "dubious" future in China.

Does the predicted first decline in iPhone sales in the current quarter really signify the beginning of the end of a technological era ushered in by the market-leading, life-changing iPhone? This is open to debate, because it is difficult to say how dim the global growth prospect will become and whether Apple can wow the world again with another wonderful product.

But any suggestion that the Chinese market is losing luster as one of the key growth drivers, if not the most important one, for Apple deserves a closer look against the less-noticed reality of steady consumer growth in China, as opposed to the downbeat news on the country's industrial sector.