Do you actually have a link where Disney says they expected TLJ to make $1.8 billion or is that something you just pulled out of your ass?

That would be a far lower drop off than what Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones as second chapter's a Star Wars trilogy. 

Actually I am hearing as well that a lot of generic Star Wars nerds enjoyed Solo. It just does not have high appeal to an audience past that. Solo is an old fashioned character compared to more modern type of humor Marvel is able to use these days. 

I believe that TLJ and the attack on large parts of the fanbase that followed has permanently cut away that large chunk of the audience and I don't think SW will easily recover from that. What we see now is the aftershock accumulated over the last three years. Foreign markets will be even more confused by what is going on and abstain.

I can't speak for the content of Solo, since I'm refusing to watch it on the pretense that the director admittedly and knowingly infused identity politics into it. As far as blowing that first part out of proportion? It was enough to alienate a large portion of the fanbase, so I'd say it's a big deal. Between giving fans something they didn't want in their Star Wars (identity politics) and calling them bigots, I'd say Lucasfilm's insistence on SJW values is constantly being underestimated by media, not blown out of proportion by fans.

Star Wars has gone through far worse with the prequels. 

Try waiting 16 years for freaking Episode I only to have every second scene have Jar Jar Binks shoved in your face, or Episode II which some how managed to be even worse. 

These new age fanboys crying about this make me laugh, the prequels were a far bigger slap in the face, the Disney movies are at least competently acted/filmed movies that at least feel the originals in tone. They are more somber and have that "lived in/old dusty sci fi tech" feel the originals had.  

The prequels was like expecting the most epic film ever and getting a cartoon for kids instead. 

Star Wars will never be that big in China either. It's too slow paced of a franchise that requires a lot of past investment in the story and can't do stuff like this:

Chinese audiences probably are wondering with Star Wars why half the movie has an old fart on the screen half the time or who the green puppet guy was and why they should care. Mark Hamil or Harrison Ford even don't mean shit to them, they never got those old movies. It's too much of a reach to expect people jump in at part VII or VIII of a story and really give much of a fart. 

Jurassic Park is released internationally next week, so that's pretty much it for Solo in these countries. Not that it has done well at all

Lol, out of my ass?  Those are the expectations from movie analysts.  As far as I know, Disney never gave their own numbers.  However, considering that was the consensus, with some thinking it would be higher, I highly doubt their internal estimates were that far off.  I also doubt they expected a steep drop in merch sales. 

And quit bringing up the previous films with absolutely no context.  I doubt Disney was like, "Yes, we'll drop as far as ESB, which got stuck in the middle of an industry shift (though, adjusted it still made more than TLJ), and AOTC, which was rated the worst by fans (at the time)."  Given that the movie industry is very established and they expected everyone to love the film, a ~15% drop would have been a reasonable expectation.

As for your post about China, China did accept SW.  The OG trilogy has been shown on their TVs before.  They got the prequels, of which the 3rd one did the best.  Of course, this was before the Chinese market became what it is today.  TFA launched with $52.35M.  And it didn't just drop off a cliff, either, finishing with $124.56M.  It made more money there than Thor:R and BP did, as well as many other Marvel films.  That was a great start for the new China market.  The problem is that Disney released TLJ.  Instead of building off of that success, they shat it away with a film that basically shat on TFA.

Saying Disney doesn't care about how much it could have made is ridiculous. There's this thing that businesses will always look at called opportunity cost

Actually, considering so many try to point to China just out and out rejecting SW, which is false, here's list of all the Marvel films that made less money than TFA.  To be completely fair, I'm starting with Avengers, which was around the time the Chinese BO blew up.

• Avengers
• Iron Man 3
• Thor 2
• Captain America 2
• GOTG
• Ant-Man
• Dr Strange
• GOTG 2
• Spider-Man: H
• Thor 3
• Black Panther

So, yea, other than the huge ensemble films, every Marvel film has performed lower than TFA.

It's strange the lengths people go to defend the direction of this new Disney SW.  Not even using hyperbole, as much as just out and out lying.  I have to say it is hilarious to read the comments from some before Solo released.  Basically bragging about how much TLJ made, even though it was greatly below expectations.  And saying stuff like, "You crybabies/incels/misogynists can boycott all you like, the films will still be hits since your group is so minuscule." Now, we actually have the next film being a flop, and it's, "Uh, you guys didn't do it.  It's because...uh...uh...(grabs reason out of butt), cause you guys are so minuscule."