Sales plummeted by 47% year on year! Foreign smartphones face "Waterloo" in China. Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) no longer popular?

Sales have "plummeted", and foreign phones seem to be "less popular". On January 3, according to media calculations, in November 2024, the shipment volume of foreign phone brands in the Chinese market was only 3.04 million units, a significant decrease of 47.4% compared to the same period last year, with a month-on-month drop of as much as 51%. In the face of fierce competition, foreign phone brands are facing increasing pressure in this largest smartphone market in the world. Analysis points out that Apple Inc. phones occupy the vast majority of these shipments, while other international brands like Samsung only account for a very small portion. Therefore, this data largely reflects the sales situation of Apple Inc. in the Chinese market. The main reason for the sharp decline in sales of foreign phone brands is the fierce competition from domestic brands, with Huawei performing strongly by launching several high-end smartphones that are well received by consumers. According to market research firm IDC, in the third quarter of 2023, Huawei's growth far exceeded Apple Inc. (AAPL.US). In the face of increasingly fierce competition, Apple Inc. is also actively responding, pinning its hopes on the iPhone 16 series released in September last year, and promising to launch a series of new AI features through Apple Intelligence software in order to achieve recovery. At the same time, Apple Inc.'s domestic competitors have also begun to promote their own AI features on their devices. In order to boost sales of the iPhone 16, Apple Inc. recently announced that it will launch a New Year promotion in the Chinese market from January 4th to 7th, covering almost all product categories of Apple Inc., including iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Pencil, etc. "Users can enjoy up to 800 RMB discount when purchasing designated products. There is also a trade-in offer for purchasing a new iPhone." Analysts believe that the sudden price reduction this time is not significant, but it can still help Apple Inc. boost sales performance before the arrival of the Spring Festival, and take the lead in the competition with domestic phone brands in the New Year. This article is reproduced from "Wall Street Seen" and edited by GMTEight: Xu Wenqiang.