Apple concept stocks in Hong Kong continued to decline after opening today. As of the time of publication, Gaowei Electronics (01415. HK) fell more than 7%, Qiu Titanium Technology (01478. HK) fell more than 6%, Shunyu Optical Technology (02382. HK) fell more than 4%, Ruisheng Technology (02018. HK), and BYD Electronics (00285. HK) followed suit.
On the news side, due to expectations of weak demand for the latest iPhone 15, Barclays analysts downgraded Apple's stock rating to a downgrade, causing market tremors.
Affected by this news, Apple's stock price closed down 3.58% on Tuesday, the largest daily decline since August 4, 2023, and hit a new low in nearly two months, with its market value evaporating over $100 billion overnight.
Barclays pointed out in its report that the current sales of Apple's iPhone 15 are sluggish and mediocre, and it is expected that the iPhone 16 may also have weak sales due to a lack of attractive new features.
More noteworthy is that due to the global economic slowdown, Apple's sales have experienced a year-on-year decline for four consecutive quarters. In the declining trend of product lines such as iPad tablets and Mac computers, the iPhone has become the main support for Apple's hardware business.
This also explains why the market has reacted so strongly to Barclays' recent downgrade of Apple's rating. In addition, Barclays also expects that the revenue growth of Apple's services business will not exceed 10% this year.
On the other hand, the Hong Kong stock market's Apple concept sector has experienced a round of upward trend due to the news of the release of Apple's MR devices.
From a historical perspective, the consumer electronics sector has a tradition of cashing in on its benefits. As the release date of Apple's MR approaches, the related risks are also worth being vigilant about. According to supply chain reports, Apple Vision Pro is expected to be launched in the United States on January 27th.