Entering 2024, Apple never expected to usher in a slap in the face.
According to a Reuters report on January 9, analysts at investment bank Jefferies said in a report that iPhone sales were still down 30% in the first week of the new year from a year earlier, despite significant price cuts on major Chinese e-commerce platforms for a number of iPhone models, including the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
The 30% drop is the first time for Apple, and it has made many investment analysts pessimistic about the company's future. At the same time, it also puzzled many fruit fans, what happened to Apple, which was invincible in the mobile phone market in the past?
Since Apple's release of the iPhone in 2007, the brand has been leading the global consumer electronics market with its superior design, technological innovation, and user experience. However, in recent years, especially in the first quarter of 2023, Apple's sales in China have seen **, with a decline of up to 30%.
As the world's largest smartphone market, China has always been the focus of competition among major brands. In recent years, with the rise of domestic brands and the intensification of market competition, Apple's market share has faced tremendous pressure. In particular, domestic brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo continue to increase investment in technology research and development, product innovation and marketing strategies, posing a direct threat to Apple.
In addition, in recent years, Apple's global brand image has also faced a series of challenges. On the one hand, Apple's pace of innovation in product design and features has slowed, which has reduced consumer expectations for the brandOn the other hand, Apple's negative news in the management of the ** chain and environmental responsibility has also had a certain impact on its brand image. In addition, recent data security and privacy issues have also taken a toll on Apple's trust.
And all of this is reflected in Apple's sales.
The iPhone is arguably Apple's most important product, and about half of the company's revenue comes from the iPhone. Apple's revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter of fiscal 2023 (Q3 of calendar year) was $89.5 billion, and revenue from iPhone was $4380.5 billion US dollars. However, weak iPhone sales have been going on for some time, especially the iPhone 15, and Counterpoint data shows that iPhone 15 sales fell by 4 compared to iPhone 14 in the early days after its release5%, the original annual shipment of 80 million to 90 million units was lowered to 78 million units, a decrease of about 8%.
The same decline is also reflected in the company's ** market capitalization, on January 2, local time, Apple's stock price suddenly plummeted, and it fell about 4 at noon5%, and the decline narrowed to less than 4% at the end of the session, closing down about 36%, and the market value evaporated by 107.1 billion US dollars (about 766 billion yuan) overnight, the largest one-day decline since August 4, 2023, and a new low since November 9, 2023.
In response to Apple's decline, judging from the news, Barclays Bank has rarely downgraded Apple's ** rating. Barclays analysts, led by Tim Long, downgraded Apple's ** rating to underweight and lowered the price target to $160 from $161, implying that the company's stock price will **17% in the coming year.
To sum up, behind the phenomenon of Apple's sales in China**30%, it reflects the intensification of market competition, changes in consumer demand, brand image and trust crisis and other reasons.
In the face of this challenge, it is not too late for Apple to innovate in its products.