Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers remarks during an Apple particular occasion in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 12, 2023.
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Apple’s iPhone sales in China have been down more than 30% year-over-year for the first week of January, whereas rivals like Xiaomi and Huawei have “remained a lot stronger” with flat sales, in keeping with a observe from Jefferies analysts Sunday.
Jefferies analysts stated they imagine Apple’s iPhone quantity will fall by double digits this yr in China, including that they “count on Apple to have even larger income strain in China in 2024.”
The observe from Jefferies analysts Sunday follows Apple’s rocky begin to the yr, as shares slipped on downgrades from Barclays and Piper Sandler, warnings from its provider Foxconn about first quarter revenue decline and experiences that the U.S. authorities is making ready an antitrust lawsuit.
Huawei gained essentially the most smartphone market share in China in 2023, in keeping with the observe, rising by about 6% yr over yr. Meanwhile, Apple’s market share in China has fallen round 4% yr over yr, in keeping with the observe.
“As we highlighted final week, iPhone’s decrease market share YoY in China is a unfavorable shock, and we imagine the cannibalization is coming from not simply HW, but additionally Xiaomi and ‘others,'” the analysts stated, referring to Huawei.
Shares of Apple have been down much less than 1% in premarket buying and selling Monday earlier than the corporate introduced the release date of its Vision Pro headset. Shares are up much less than 1% now.
The Jefferies analysts stated that iPhone reductions in China are on the rise, which is probably going half of Apple’s effort to “defend its share.” They discovered that reductions for some iPhone 14 fashions rose “considerably” in China final week, whereas some present reductions have been elevated even additional.
Apple didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for remark.
–CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.