Apple sees double-digit iPhone sales growth in China

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2020
New figures estimate Apple's sales of iPhones in China grew 18.7% year over year, even though overall the region saw a decline in smartphone sales.

Apple's new iPhones are seeing increased sales
Apple's new iPhones are seeing increased sales


A year on from Apple having to announce falling sales in China, the company is now seeing a double-digit rise in the number of iPhone shipments. Year over year, iPhone sales grew 18.7%, while overall the Chinese market for smartphones declined by 13.7%.

Bloomberg reports that it has calculated these figures based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT), and also from Android device shipments.

That CAICT data says that there were 389 million cell phone shipments in China during 2019, including over 13 million 5G phones.

Apple does not yet sell a 5G-capable iPhone, but, according to Bloomberg, the current increase in sales means expectations are that the company will do well during the build up to the Chinese New Year on January 25.

This time in 2019, Apple was forced to lower its revenue forecast for investors because of falling iPhone sales in China. Rather than the previous estimate of between $89 billion and $93 billion, Apple announced that it was now expecting $84 billion for the preceding quarter.

"Lower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China, accounts for all of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and for much more than our entire year-over-year revenue decline," Tim Cook said. "While Greater China and other emerging markets accounted for the vast majority of the year-over-year iPhone revenue decline, in some developed markets, iPhone upgrades also were not as strong as we thought they would be."

Cook added said that there were international currency issues involved, but also cited "fewer carrier subsidies," and "some customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements" instead of upgrading.

Since then, Apple has introduced price cuts and trade-in deals, but by the end of 2019, analysts were conflicted over whether these moves had been successful.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Interesting.   Not long ago it was reported that Chinese sales of Huawei phones had increased while Apple's had decreased.

    I wonder which report is correct?
  • Reply 2 of 9
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    Yes I’m sure a Chinese think tank is going to know what Apple’s sales figures are in China.  :/
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 9
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Interesting.   Not long ago it was reported that Chinese sales of Huawei phones had increased while Apple's had decreased.

    I wonder which report is correct?
    Lesson learned is to pay no attention to these kinds of reports for the exact reason you raise the question. If you read the financial sections of various online news sites you quickly realize that for every prediction of cotton candy and unicorns there’s a corresponding prediction of apocalyptic extinction. 
    edited January 2020 GG1GeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 9
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,328member
    Interesting.   Not long ago it was reported that Chinese sales of Huawei phones had increased while Apple's had decreased.

    I wonder which report is correct?
    Huawei took sales from other Chinese OEM's for the most part, so doesn't preclude Apple from increasing sales in China YOY. Margins were exceedingly low for all but Apple.

    What is interesting is that 13.7% decrease in overall sales, as if no-one saw the China market saturating, and only 13 million 5G sales, hardy an indicator of Apple being "late to the party", which seems to be the meme for a couple of persons on these forums, persons that unsurprisingly push 5G marketing hype but have yet to actually buy a 5G device.

    Weak.

    https://www.counterpointresearch.com/china-smartphone-share/

    https://marketrealist.com/2019/12/could-iphone-lose-foothold-in-china-q1/
    edited January 2020 StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 9
    BebeBebe Posts: 145member
    It seems like a good YoY growth, but it is compared to the 'not-so-good' year for Apple.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    Apple seems to be betting the future on AR.  I wonder what Android is betting the future on?  

    Android does seem to be experiencing issues getting people excited about new versions.  I have similar issues with Apple devices, but at least the OS updates will keep coming...
  • Reply 7 of 9
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,328member
    Bebe said:
    It seems like a good YoY growth, but it is compared to the 'not-so-good' year for Apple.
    There should be reliable information from Apple's quarterly earnings report on January 28,2020, and I would expect that the results from China should show solid improvements YOY even given the previous year's downturn.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 9
    FatmanFatman Posts: 513member
    Regardless of the exact numbers - since even the experts disagree - Apple is gaining momentum in India; seeing some reversal of the sales slide in China, and (I project) absolutely knocked it out of the park in the US - I've never seen so many 'deals' on Apple products than this past holiday season ... across all product categories. I'm sure we'll see record revenue, marketshare growth, and stellar services growth. This should equate to a rise in stock price with the only 'fabricated wall street cause for concern' is a potential reduction in average selling price/ and or margin hit. 2020 is also looking to be a strong year if they execute on 5G phones, increase iPhone offering options, and continue to build out services ... possibly even a surprise new product introduction ;-)  ... Next earnings report is 1/28/20.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 9
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    lkrupp said:
    Interesting.   Not long ago it was reported that Chinese sales of Huawei phones had increased while Apple's had decreased.

    I wonder which report is correct?
    Lesson learned is to pay no attention to these kinds of reports for the exact reason you raise the question. If you read the financial sections of various online news sites you quickly realize that for every prediction of cotton candy and unicorns there’s a corresponding prediction of apocalyptic extinction. 

    Yeh, it's why I do my own investing.   Financial Analysts too often are retired football players and others who can't get a real job but know how to sound like they know what they're talking about.

    But perhaps more appropriate to this case is the old saying:  "Figures lie and Liars Figure".
    My first career was as Cost Accountant and Analyst for manufacturing companies.  I quickly realized that I could make those numbers come out pretty much any way that I wanted and still be "correct".  I worked hard (evenings & weekends) to do my best to make them reflect real life reality.  But, unfortunately, I think I was the exception.
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