In the Chinese market, Apple phone users are shifting towards domestic phone brands.
On January 9th, Beijing time, according to Reuters, analysts from investment bank Jefferies pointed out in their latest report that in the first week of 2024, sales of iPhones in the Chinese market significantly decreased by 30% compared to the same period last year, due to fierce competition from local Chinese brands, especially Huawei's strong return to the high-end market after the release of the Mate 60 series in August last year.
The report points out that although the new models of Apple's iPhone 15 series have lowered prices on multiple e-commerce platforms, their sales are still significantly declining. Among them, on the Pinduoduo platform, the price reduction of this series is as high as 16%. Jefferies analysts believe that in the Chinese market, Apple's year-on-year decline in 2023 was 3%, which is equivalent to a 0.4% decrease in Apple's market share.
On one hand, there is Apple's declining market share, while on the other hand, Chinese mobile phone brands are competing to capture Apple's high-end market. From the market share rankings in recent months, although Apple still ranks among the top, its market share and sales have been decreasing year-on-year. According to data from market research firm BCI, in November last year, in the high-end smartphone market priced above 4000 yuan, Apple still ranked first, occupying more than half of the market share. Huawei, ranked second, accounted for 22.3%, while Xiaomi, ranked third with 14.4%. However, Apple fell by 21.2% year-on-year, while Huawei and Xiaomi rose by 8.8% and 11.8% respectively.
Based on the data of the Chinese mobile phone market in the third quarter of 2023, according to IDC, although a new iPhone 15 series was released during the third quarter of last year, the market response was lower than expected. Apple's market share in the third quarter was 16.0%, a year-on-year decrease of 4.0%, ranking third. In contrast, other domestic brands have seen varying degrees of year-on-year slight increase in market share. This also means that in the high-end mobile phone market in China, Apple users are shifting towards domestic mobile phone brands.
The related emotions are also transmitted to the capital market. Entering 2024, securities firms have been bearish on Apple, with Apple receiving the least bullish rating among large technology stocks, citing reasons such as declining revenue, concerns about future iPhone sales, and the revival of competitors.
Last week, Apple's stock rating was also downgraded twice. Securities firm Barclays Bank has downgraded Apple's stock rating from "neutral" to "underweight" and lowered its target price for the next 12 months to $160. On Thursday, Piper Sandler also lowered its rating on Apple due to concerns about poor demand for iPhones in the future.
This also led to a continuous decline in Apple's stock price in the first trading week of the new year. The data shows that its cumulative decline has reached 5.9%, and its market value has evaporated by over 177 billion US dollars. On the first trading day of the New Year, it plummeted by 4%, reaching a seven week low, and its market value evaporated by over 100 billion US dollars. As of the close of January 8th Eastern Time, it has dropped to $2.82 trillion, a decrease of up to 9%.