Apple’s China Outlook Darkens As Foreign Brand Smartphone Shipments Plunge By Investing.com
Investing.com – Shipments of foreign-branded smartphones, which include tech giant Apple’s (NASDAQ: ) flagship iPhone, fell 47.4% in November from a year earlier, according to a government-linked research firm.
Figures from the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology indicated a fourth straight monthly decline, with foreign shipments of mobile phones to China totaling 3.04 million units during the month. In the period of the previous year, this measure amounted to 5.769 million.
Apple in particular is struggling with the continued slowdown in China’s economy, which has fueled concerns about deflationary pressures and heightened uncertainty about the state of consumer spending.
Meanwhile, fierce competition from domestic players such as Huawei has weighed on California-based Apple’s presence in the country. According to research firm IDC cited by Reuters, Apple’s iPhone sales fell 0.3% in the third quarter from a year earlier, but Huawei’s jumped 42%. In the second quarter, Apple temporarily lost its position as one of the top five mobile phone sellers in China.
In response to the pressure, the group recently offered new discounts on its latest high-end iPhone models in a bid to boost demand in China, the world’s largest smartphone market.
During a four-day promotional run from January 4 to 7, Apple will introduce discounts of up to 500 yuan on its iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models. The prices for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus offer will also be reduced by 400 yuan.
Apple will also cut the prices of its older iPhone models, along with other products such as MacBook laptops and iPad tablets, by between 200 to 300 yuan. Only users using certain payment methods, including those via Alipay and WeChat Pay, will be able to access the discounts.
Apple shares were slightly lower in US trading on Friday. The stock, which forms part of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” group of big tech players set to power equity markets through 2024, has risen more than 32% over the past year.
(Reuters contributed reporting.)
