Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Apple is losing market share in China due to falling iPhone shipments, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a report on Friday. Shares fell 2.4 percent.
“Apple has taken a cautious stance when discussing 2025 iPhone production plans with key suppliers,” wrote Kuo, an analyst at TF Securities. publish. He added that despite the expected presentation of the new iPhone SE 4, shipments are expected to drop by 6% compared to last year in the first half of 2025.
Kuo expects Apple’s market share to continue to decline, as the two upcoming iPhones are so thin that they will likely only support eSIM, which the Chinese market does not currently promote.
“These two models could face delivery momentum challenges unless their designs change,” he wrote.
Kuo wrote that in December, overall smartphone shipments in China were flat year-over-year, but iPhone shipments fell 10% to 12%.
There is also “no evidence” that Apple Intelligence, the company on the device artificial intelligence offer, encourages hardware upgrades or service revenue, according to Kuo. He wrote that the feature “did not drive demand for iPhone replacements,” according to supply chain research he conducted, and added that he believed the feature’s appeal had “declined significantly compared to cloud-based AI services, which have advanced rapidly in next months.”
Apple’s estimated iPhone shipments are about 220 million units in 2024 and between about 220 million and 225 million this year, Kuo wrote. That’s “below the market consensus of 240 million or more,” he wrote.
Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
