iPhone sales are up, but take a big hit in China

AppleInsider

Apple's iPhone sales worldwide are up, but in China are down 13% year over year, and CEO Tim Cook argues that it's a reflection of overall economic issues rather the iPhone losing popularity.

Apple's iPhone 15 Pro range

During Apple's Q1 2024 earnings announcement, Apple has reported that its total iPhone sales in China were $20.82 billion. It's a drop of 13% compared to the same period in 2023.

"The dollar is very strong versus the RMB," Tim Cook told CNBC. "And so that negative 13 goes to a mid-single digit number."

"So that's how we did on the phone last quarter," he continued. "The good news is that we're four out of the top six top selling smartphones in urban China."

Quarterly global iPhone revenue as of Q1 2024

Worldwide, Apple sold $69.7 billion in iPhones in the 2023 holiday quarter. This compares to $65.8 billion in the 2022 quarter

Previously, Apple saw a 4% drop year over year in iPhone sales over China's annual Singles Day in November. Despite that, other analyst figures claim that the long-running decline in China's smartphone sales has been stemmed, and Apple was most recently the top seller in the country.



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rax_mark

India is going to replace China in the coming decade.

The demand is already there, however, people were previously unable to purchase due to very high prices and the per capita income being low despite a massive GDP. This is changing due to no cost EMIs being introduced by various banks and other financial institutions.

Alex_V

rax_mark said:

India is going to replace China in the coming decade.

The demand is already there, however, people were previously unable to purchase due to very high prices and the per capita income being low despite a massive GDP. This is changing due to no cost EMIs being introduced by various banks and other financial institutions.

Unlikely. Not for a long time. Probably not even in this Century. Since the late 80s when the two countries had similar economies, China has catapulted past India. The Chinese have far greater purchasing power. The country has stewarded its economy with much greater skill than India.

avon b7

For once the predictions were right. A 13% fall in what should be Apple’s blowout quarter and following heavy discounting over the period from both Apple and retailers is surprising.

There is no doubt that China offers Apple tougher competition than anywhere else and Huawei has been back on its regular flagship cycle since last year. 

Economic headwinds are real but if the next quarter follows a similar pattern, something will need tweaking. 

Respite

Impressive that they increase sales overall even with a significant slump in one of their major markets.

tmay

avon b7 said:

For once the predictions were right. A 13% fall in what should be Apple’s blowout quarter and following heavy discounting over the period from both Apple and retailers is surprising.

There is no doubt that China offers Apple tougher competition than anywhere else and Huawei has been back on its regular flagship cycle since last year. 

Economic headwinds are real but if the next quarter follows a similar pattern, something will need tweaking. 

You are incorrect.

Apple's marketshare increased in January, Huawei's decreased. These two have been trading share lead since before the beginning of 2023, but Apple was the leader for the year.

https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/china

Economic headwinds lowered all boats.

Now, please explain to me why Huawei'e share is falling. Either sales peaked, or Huawei can't produce enough product. 

tmay

Alex_V said:

rax_mark said:

India is going to replace China in the coming decade.

The demand is already there, however, people were previously unable to purchase due to very high prices and the per capita income being low despite a massive GDP. This is changing due to no cost EMIs being introduced by various banks and other financial institutions.

Unlikely. Not for a long time. Probably not even in this Century. Since the late 80s when the two countries had similar economies, China has catapulted past India. The Chinese have far greater purchasing power. The country has stewarded its economy with much greater skill than India.

China's demographics;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_China#/media/File:China_population_sex_by_age_on_Nov,_1st,_2020.png

India's demographics;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India#/media/File:India_single_age_population_pyramid_2020.png

China's on child policy has doomed its economic growth; too few young people to support too many old people, and too low a birthrate to correct it.

avon b7

tmay said:

avon b7 said:

For once the predictions were right. A 13% fall in what should be Apple’s blowout quarter and following heavy discounting over the period from both Apple and retailers is surprising.

There is no doubt that China offers Apple tougher competition than anywhere else and Huawei has been back on its regular flagship cycle since last year. 

Economic headwinds are real but if the next quarter follows a similar pattern, something will need tweaking. 

You are incorrect.

Apple's marketshare increased in January, Huawei's decreased. These two have been trading share lead since before the beginning of 2023, but Apple was the leader for the year.

https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/china

Economic headwinds lowered all boats.

Now, please explain to me why Huawei'e share is falling. Either sales peaked, or Huawei can't produce enough product. 

There is nothing incorrect in what I said and I didn't even mention marketshare. 

Re-read what I said. 

I didn't mention it because it's irrelevant to the news. 

The point (as explained all over the internet) was that Apple has intense competition in China and that Huawei, now being back on its regular flagship cycle, will add to that competition and take sales away.

Also, as per predictions, sales in China were down by a notable amount. Normally those predictions are often off the mark. This time they weren't. 

All correct. 

Marketshare from one quarter to another has nothing to do with anything. This is Apple's blowout quarter. Its only release of the year. 

Huawei will have three or four big releases this year. The next one possibly in a few weeks (February/March) and the impact is already being felt on Apple. 

That has nothing to do with marketshare for a quarter. 

https://www.asiafinancial.com/asian-rivals-posing-a-challenge-to-apples-iphone-sales-in-china

danox

Still bigger than the EU by far....

Alex_V

tmay said:

Alex_V said:

Unlikely. Not for a long time. Probably not even in this Century. Since the late 80s when the two countries had similar economies, China has catapulted past India. The Chinese have far greater purchasing power. The country has stewarded its economy with much greater skill than India.

China's demographics;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_China#/media/File:China_population_sex_by_age_on_Nov,_1st,_2020.png
India's demographics;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India#/media/File:India_single_age_population_pyramid_2020.png
China's on child policy has doomed its economic growth; too few young people to support too many old people, and too low a birthrate to correct it.

Since the one-child policy, China’s economy has blown past India. So, no problem there. Rock-bottom wages are India’s greatest problem, IMO, leading to astonishing differences in wealth, like the USA on steroids. When 80% of your population subsist on 5 bucks a day (or something like that), you have a permanent break acting on the economy, and a firm ceiling on how much the economy can grow in the foreseeable future.

avon b7

The first China figures for the year are now appearing which confirm the competitive scenario:

https://technode.com/2024/02/05/huawei-regains-the-top-spot-in-chinese-smartphone-sales-in-the-first-two-weeks-of-2024/

Apple will seemingly get some respite though as news from today indicates that Huawei is having trouble meeting demand for its Ascend (AI), Kirin (phone and tablet) and MDC (automotive) chips. 

All while trying to ramp mass production for the soon-to-be-announced P70 flagship series.

As demand soars across the board, it's having to juggle things around. 

If rumours are correct, AI chips have been prioritised for the short term.

It all means potentially good news for Apple.