According to government data cited by Bloomberg, iPhone shipments in China plummeted by 33% in February compared to the same period last year. A report from China's Academy of Information and Communications Technology revealed that foreign brands collectively shipped approximately 2.4 million smartphones in the past month, with Apple dominating the bulk of these shipments due to its significant market share.
This marks the third consecutive month of declining iPhone shipments, with January seeing a 39% drop year-on-year and December experiencing a 30% decline. Apple's struggle to reverse this trend is expected to continue, with a projected 24% year-on-year decline in 2023 likely to worsen throughout 2024. To alleviate the slump, Apple resellers in China have increasingly relied on discounts to move iPhone 15 inventory, following the company's own rare price reductions before the Lunar New Year holiday in February.
However, Apple faces additional challenges in China, including a government ban on iPhones in certain official settings and stiff competition from Huawei's Mate 60 lineup, which boasts advanced semiconductor technology tailored for the local market. Although the Chinese smartphone market as a whole contracted by nearly one-third in February, analysts anticipate growth throughout the year. Nevertheless, they expect iPhone 15 sales to continue declining while local competitors aggressively promote AI features in their devices.
Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, recently visited China to inaugurate the company's latest store in Shanghai and participate in the China Development Forum in Beijing, underscoring the country's importance to Apple's global strategy.
