On May 6th, TechInsights released data showing that in Q1 2024, the shipment volume of smartphones in China was 63.3 million units, a year-on-year increase of 1%. Ending 11 consecutive quarters of annual decline.
In terms of manufacturers, the market share of the four major manufacturers - OPPO/OnePlus, Honor, Huawei, and vivo - is on par. OPPO/OnePlus leads the Chinese smartphone market with a market share of 17.1%. Honor, Huawei, and vivo followed closely behind, ranking second to fourth, with market shares of 16.7%, 16.6%, and 16.1%, respectively. Xiaomi ranked fifth with a market share of 15.0%, while Apple fell out of the top five with a market share of 13.7%.
The top six smartphone manufacturers collectively hold 95.1% of the market share, which is higher than 93.7% a year ago, indicating an increase in market concentration. Other smaller Chinese manufacturers are limited in scale and channels, and continue to face significant challenges in the domestic market. For example, Meizu announced in this quarter that it will shift its focus from traditional smartphone business to new artificial intelligence hardware.
Apple's revenue in Greater China has long shown signs of decline
On May 2nd local time, Apple released its financial report for the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year (i.e. the first quarter of the calendar year), which was better than expected despite a year-on-year decline in revenue and profit.
In the second quarter ending March 31, Apple's total revenue was $90.753 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4%; The net profit was 23.636 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 2%; The gross profit margin has been increased to 46.6%. Meanwhile, Apple announced its largest stock buyback program in history - $110 billion, higher than the usual $90 billion
According to Canalys data, in the first quarter of 2024, Samsung returned to the top spot in the global mobile phone market with a shipment volume of 60 million units; Apple's shipment volume experienced a double-digit decline, dropping to 48.7 million units, ranking second. In the Chinese market, Huawei's shipment volume has returned to first place, while Apple ranks fifth, but the market share difference is only about 2%.
According to 21st Century Business Herald on May 3rd, Cook stated at the financial report that China is "the most fiercely competitive market in the world" and expressed optimism about the future development of iPhones in the Chinese market. Cook emphasized, "I am still very optimistic about the future development of the Chinese market. We are not focusing on the next one or two weeks of development, but more on long-term development." He also mentioned that the best-selling smartphones in Chinese cities are the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple's revenue in Greater China fell 8.1% to $16.37 billion, better than the expected double-digit decline.
Berkshire has reduced its holdings of Apple shares for two consecutive quarters
According to 21st Century Business Herald on May 5th, Berkshire significantly reduced the proportion of its largest holdings in Apple in the first quarter, with a value of $135.4 billion at the end of the quarter, approximately 790 million shares, a decrease of about 13%. But as of the end of the first quarter, Apple remains Berkshire's largest stake to date.
It should be noted that this has been Berkshire's second consecutive quarter of reduction in Apple shares. Among the many investment actions in the fourth quarter of last year, Berkshire's reduction of 10 million shares of Apple, which is considered a "good idea", has attracted much attention. Based on the average stock price during the period, the market value of the reduction is about 1.822 billion US dollars (approximately 13.1 billion yuan), and the shareholding in Apple has decreased to 5.9%.
However, Berkshire's reduction of its holdings in Apple is not without precedent, as it also sold Apple stocks in the fourth quarter of 2020, but Buffett later admitted that this may have been a mistake. At the 2023 shareholder meeting, Buffett stated that Apple has excellent business, high profit margins, high user loyalty, and close relationships with consumers. "Two years ago, Berkshire sold some Apple stocks due to tax considerations, and this decision was foolish. We want to have a good company, and we also want to have sufficient liquidity."