ILLUSTRATION. Apple iPhone sales in China decreased by 24% on a year-on-year basis in the first six weeks of 2024. REUTERS/Aly Song
Source: Reuters | Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie
KONTAN.CO.ID – BEIJING. According to data released by research firm Counterpoint, Apple’s iPhone sales in China decreased by 24% on a basis year on year in the first six weeks of 2024. One reason is because the US company faces stiff competition from domestic companies such as Huawei.
Launch ReutersIn contrast, the US tech giant’s main Chinese competitor in premium smartphone products, Huawei, saw unit sales increase by 64% in the period.
This could raise concerns about slowing demand for US companies, whose revenue forecast for the quarter is US$ 6 billion below Wall Street expectations.
On Tuesday (5/3/2024), shares of the iPhone maker closed 2.8% lower and have lost about 12% of their value so far this year. Apple shares performed worse than its fellow large technology companies in the United States.
The Counterpoint report said Apple’s smartphone market share in China fell to 15.7%, placing it in fourth place, compared to second place in the year-ago period when its market share reached 19%.
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Huawei rose to second place as its market share increased to 16.5% from 9.4% in the previous year. The overall smartphone market in China shrank 7%, according to the report.
“Apple faces stiff competition at the top end from a resurgent Huawei and is caught in the middle due to aggressive pricing from the likes of OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi,” said Counterpoint senior analyst Mengmeng Zhang.
Apple began subsidizing certain iPhone models by 1,300 yuan (US$180.68) last week through flagship stores on Tmall, Alibaba’s main marketplace platform.
They had offered iPhone discounts of up to 500 yuan on their official website last month.
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Huawei has seen a resurgence in sales of its premium smartphones since releasing the Mate 60 series in August after struggling for years with US restrictions on exports of key components to the company.
Honor, the smartphone brand that was spun off from Huawei in 2020, was the only other top five brand to experience an increase in unit sales during the first six weeks of this year, up 2%. Chinese brand phones Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo fell 15%, 7% and 29% respectively.