iPhone Sales in China Declined 24% in First Six Weeks of 2024

[MacRumors]

Apple's iPhone sales in China saw a significant decline in the first six weeks of this year that saw it lose the title of China's best-selling smartphone maker to a local vendor.

iPhone sales dropped by 24 percent, pushing Apple down to fourth among smartphone makers in the country, according to Counterpoint Research. Vivo took the top spot, thanks to its success in the budget segment of the market.

That's despite both companies selling fewer phones, owing to a 7 percent drop in the overall Chinese market, which is suffering the effects of a nationwide deflation.

Meanwhile, Huawei saw its market share grow to 16.5 percent from 9.4 percent, thanks to the popularity of its home-grown Mate 60 series. Apple recorded a 15.7 percent market share, falling from 19 percent a year ago, according to Counterpoint's data. Overall growth is likely to remain in the red during Q1 2024 on muted spending and a few new product launches, said the analysts.

Apple's iPhone struggled during the first few weeks of the year for several reasons, according to Counterpoint. "Primarily, it faced stiff competition at the high end from a resurgent Huawei while getting squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi," said Senior Analyst Mengmeng Zhang.

"Although the iPhone 15 is a great device, it has no significant upgrades from the previous version, so consumers feel fine holding on to the older-generation iPhones for now," he added.

Apple resellers in China have been increasingly dependent on discounts to shift iPhone 15 stock in a market that has entered a general malaise. The discounts followed Apple's own rare price reductions on its website ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

Apple sales in China dropped 13 percent to $20.8 billion in the quarter ended December, falling short of the $23.5 billion predicted by analysts, and forecasts for a quick improvement in 2024 do not look particularly optimistic.

Article Link: iPhone Sales in China Declined 24% in First Six Weeks of 2024

 

[Account25476]

It's imperative for Apple to prioritize the enhancement of its product quality. Issues like millennial bugs, exorbitant pricing for Apple One/iCloud storage, and notably subpar hardware features need to be addressed promptly.

Apple's approach seems to be centered around maximizing profits by pushing boundaries with pricing, only to later introduce updates or fixes to regain consumer trust.

In essence, Apple needs to focus on delivering consistent quality and value rather than relying on strategies that may compromise customer satisfaction in the long run.

 

[desslr]

Deeply concerning.

Something is rotting at Apple. I think it is Tim Cook.

 

[Nixiiao]

Is Samsung in the "other" category now?

 

[deaglecat]

innovate or die in the Chinese market.

 

[wanha]

PSI: these types of statistics like this one from Counterpoint Research are often inaccurate as they don't have access to any official numbers.

That said, they can give you a hint about in which direction things are headed and together with Apple's declining sales in China (as per Apple themselves) certainly paints a concerning picture for Apple.

 

[kiranmk2]

That's despite both companies selling fewer phones, owing to a 7 percent drop in the overall Chinese market, which is suffering the effects of a nationwide deflation.

Hmm deflation isn't going to mesh well with Apple's strategy of ever-increasing ASPs. Whilst the cost of everything else decreases year on year, Apple products get more expensive...

 

[whateverest]

Is Samsung in the "other" category now?

Yes it is, for years already.

Samsung, which was the biggest smartphone vendor in China in 2013 with about a 20% market share, saw that plummet to 1% in 2018 (...)

https://www.reuters.com/technology/samsung-going-right-direction-china-market-mobile-chief-says-2023-07-26/

 

[CrysisDeu]

Chinese market is the most competitive and has brought the most innovations for quite a while.

The complete chip ban on Huawei only held them back for two years. They build everything needed to produce their own chips, in a country where no one makes chips.. Meanwhile Apple still cannot make a 5g modem or a car.

 

[wanha]

It's imperative for Apple to prioritize the enhancement of its product quality. Issues like millennial bugs, exorbitant pricing for Apple One/iCloud storage, and notably subpar hardware features need to be addressed promptly.

Apple's approach seems to be centered around maximizing profits by pushing boundaries with pricing, only to later introduce updates or fixes to regain consumer trust.

In essence, Apple needs to focus on delivering consistent quality and value rather than relying on strategies that may compromise customer satisfaction in the long run.

iPhones and their software are certainly not be perfect, but their SW and HW quality is better than Android.

IMO the real problem is the lack of innovation on iOS. The past several versions of iOS have practically been indistinguishable from the last with only a handful "innovations" in there.

 

[wanha]

Chinese market is the most competitive and has brought the most innovations for quite a while.

The complete chip ban on Huawei only held them back for two years. Meanwhile Apple still cannot make a 5g modem or a car.

Apple is also unable to build airplanes, tanks, ships, rockets, or skyscrapers

 

[mech986]

Is Samsung in the "other" category now?

Has been for the last 3-4 years, despite having their Foldables on the market for 5 years. Chinese buyers don’t seem to like Korean products, even the less expensive models. Samsung has less than 1% of the Chinese market share.

 

[contacos]

Apple software just is not innovative and a "omg I must have it NOW!" anymore like why should I upgrade from my iPhone 12 Pro Max, if the iPhone 15 does the same thing (talking software!). Yes, the camera is better but I can hardly tell (in fact, I find selfies to look better on the old one).

I am actually not saying it is necessarily a bad thing (saves a lot of money) it just shows that even an iPhone 12 Pro is still running great today (speaks for the hardware). Apple would need some "exclusive" software features to get me to upgrade as often as I used to and if they don't? eh that is also fine with me, saves money like I said haha

 

[Account25476]

iPhones and their software are certainly not be perfect, but their SW and HW quality is better than Android.

IMO the real problem is the lack of innovation on iOS. The past several versions of iOS have practically been indistinguishable from the last with only a handful "innovations" in there.

I understand that critiquing Apple in a forum primarily for Apple enthusiasts can be challenging.
However, it's essential to highlight when certain hardware specifications, such as 128GB storage, 60Hz display, and around ~3400mAh battery capacity, and many others persist for years without significant improvement. This kind of game (using lower-quality components) can't last forever.

While this may save costs for Apple initially, it becomes increasingly apparent when competitors continuously offer similar or even better specifications, such as 256GB storage, 120Hz display, and battery capacities exceeding 4000mAh for standard models, often at a lower price point.

 

[syklee26]

It is amazing how long Apple was able to survive Tim Cook's inadequate marketing and innovative brain. Sure, Apple needs to cater to shareholders and their desires for maximizing profit, but sometimes you make a few dollars less on units to deliver more value to customers, who will in turn show loyalty and buy more. This was why customers hardly ever complained to Apple under Jobs about Apple products being "overpriced."

In fact, people were lining up all day to buy Apple products at launch. You don't see that anymore, and don't bring up online sales for that because people were lining up for days to buy iPhone 4 when they could've just ordered online.

Chinese folks don't think it's worth paying extra to get Apple products anymore. iPhone was always the most expensive phone in the market; yet under jobs people lined up for days to get it. Not anymore.

If Apple doesn't change the leadership, it will be facing slow death.

 

[wanha]

I understand that critiquing Apple in a forum primarily for Apple enthusiasts can be challenging.
However, it's essential to highlight when certain hardware specifications, such as 128GB storage, 60Hz display, and around ~3400mAh battery capacity, and many others persist for years without significant improvement. This kind of game (using lower-quality components) can't last forever.

While this may save costs for Apple initially, it becomes increasingly apparent when competitors continuously offer similar or even better specifications, such as 256GB storage, 120Hz display, and battery capacities exceeding 4000mAh for standard models, often at a lower price point.

I quite agree with you, actually.

My comment was mainly in response to someone suggesting Apple's struggles are due to quality issues, but as far as I can tell, they have very few defects and other failures compared to their competitors.

That said, Apple has been playing it safe in terms of innovation but also using lower spec (not quality) components and that is why IMO their sales are tanking in China.

 

[JohnRckr]

What else to expect if you're trying to sell the same product again every year

 

[bousozoku]

When you consider what the typical person makes, are most devices Americans take for granted too much for China?

I think that they're too much anywhere but obviously, people will sacrifice many things to show that they can afford a flagship phone.

 

[timber]

Apple is also unable to build airplanes, tanks, ships, rockets, or skyscrapers

But they did make a pretty great space ship.

I won't pretend to understand the Chineses market but based on the one I do know, the European one, Apple needs to simply cost less. Nobody is complaining about their offers and the iPhone has strong desirability.

 

[TechRunner]

In the U.S. where iPhone is king we seem to forget that, in many other parts of the world, it's simply another device to be weighed against the rest for price, specs, perception of value, availability of service if required, etc.

 

[one more]

My guess is that there are two main reasons for this decline:

1) iPhones are way too expensive for the vast majority of Chinese people;

2) A growing anti-American sentiment amongst the Chinese.

The first one is relatively simple to fix, the second one is more complicated.

 

[j26]

iPhones just don't seem to be compelling any more. As a family we have 4 iPads, a Mac Mini a MacBook Air and 3 iPhones (11). Only my wife and I are Android phone holdouts.

My kids iPhones are coming for renewal soon and they were given the choice to get a 13 for free (it's free on the plan) or contribute towards a 14 (it's 200 on the plan, but I'd only expect them to put in about 50 as an exercise in learning about the value of money). They all decided to go for the 13 as "it's basically the same as the 14, or 15 and not worth the extra 50" (their words, not mine)

To me that suggests Apple is becoming boring to teens. It just needs to be the "right" brand, but after that it's just not exciting any more.
The change to Apple silicon in Macs was exciting, and was what brought me back to Macs after years on PC's. Apple needs something seismic in iPhones, and soon.

 

[Hails09]

iPhones and their software are certainly not be perfect, but their SW and HW quality is better than Android.

IMO the real problem is the lack of innovation on iOS. The past several versions of iOS have practically been indistinguishable from the last with only a handful "innovations" in there.

In your opinion

 

[klasma]

But they did make a pretty great space ship.

It doesn’t seem to be working though.

 

[wanha]

In your opinion

Yes, that's what the "IMO" in my comment stands for