Apple's China sales tumble highlights waning clout as local brands gain
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[February 02, 2024] By
Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh
BEIJING (Reuters) -Apple's weak China sales performance may have shocked
investors, but customers and analysts have been noting the rising
challenges the company faces in its third-largest market.
Intensifying competition from domestic rivals, coupled with longer
upgrade cycles as consumers spend more cautiously amid an economic
slowdown, have stunted Apple's China growth, with sales there nosediving
by 13% in the quarter ending in December to $20.8 billion and missing
estimates of $23.5 billion.
Shares of the company dipped about 3% in premarket trading on Friday,
following the disappointing China sales.
"Apple's sales decline in China is not surprising given the strong
competition it faced from local brands like Huawei and Xiaomi," said
Toby Zhu, an analyst with research group Canalys.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As the world's largest smartphone market, China is crucial to Apple's
sales growth. For years, Apple has been the premium phone brand of
choice in the country but the tide is now turning.
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The pressure on Apple intensified in the second half of the year after
Huawei's comeback in the high-end smartphone market with its Mate 60
series phones powered by a domestically-made chip.
Other leading Android brands like Xiaomi also edged into the high-end
turf that Apple has traditionally dominated. Xiaomi launched its premium
Mi 14 model in October, touting its long battery life and camera
capabilities. It sold 1 million units within a week of launch.
Canalys' Zhu said Chinese manufacturers are gradually breaking into
Apple's core price segment by introducing higher-priced foldable
products.
Chinese consumers have also complained about a lack of innovation in
Apple's iPhones, particularly in the design aesthetic, compared to
earlier iterations.
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An Apple logo is seen at an Apple store in Pudong, the financial
district of Shanghai February 29, 2012. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File
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"Another hurdle Apple needs to overcome is how it could bring more
wow factors to the buyers and sustain its image as a tech pioneer.
This is especially crucial when other Android vendors are now
bringing foldables and AI to their products," said Will Wong, an
smartphone analyst with IDC.
At the same time, Chinese customers are holding on to handsets for
longer because of the economic slowdown. Consultancy Counterpoint
said in June that the replacement cycle was over 40 months.
To support its Chinese sales, Apple has cut prices. A massive
discounting campaign by online retailers including Alibaba and
Pinduoduo in October to clear iPhone 15 stock, just a month after it
was launched in the country. In January, Apple offered rare
discounts on its iPhones.
The October discounting effort seemed to only stem the decline, with
Apple's phone shipments dropping by just 2.1% in the final quarter
of 2023, while Huawei's sales increased by 36.2%, according to data
from research group IDC.
Apple will likely continue to face pressure in China going forward.
Jefferies analysts predict Apple's shipments in China will decline
by a double digit percentage in 2024.
"The big miss in China is concerning as it could be the start of a
longer downward trend there", said Bob O'Donnell at TECHnalysis
Research.
(Reporting by Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christian
Schmollinger)
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