This may get a lot worse for every non Chinese phone maker, as they get access to cheap subsidized chips from SMIC that are extremely competitive for low end phones.
I don't think SMIC refuses to sell to non-Chinese companies. Nokia mostly uses Unisoc chips, which are made in China (not sure if by SMIC).
But if they did, it would be a pretty serious problem, since I don't think SMIC even has a viable competitor in the entry-level smartphone chip market.
That lack of competing isn't because of price tho. The CCP has effectively convinced the population that Apple (US phones) are bad/untrustworthy, much like the US government has done regarding Huawei. There was a time when Apple had a decent (not great) marketshare in China.
Apple's collapse in China is the direct consequence of America's anti-China policy. Why would the Chinese buy phones from a country that keeps attacking them with sanctions?
I don't buy $1000< phones but it's also not something that I would cheap out that much. You get more specs than Samsung on paper, I guess, but that's not a phone needs the most. It's literally one thing you always use and all the most sensitive shits are in there. Chinese smartphone? Please.