Chinese mobile phones have indeed made a force, and Apple has raised prices in other markets!
Apple's financial report for the fourth quarter of 2023 shows that the Chinese market has indeed been hit by Chinese mobile phones, losing more than 20 billion yuan in revenue, but Apple is still performing strongly and achieving growth in markets outside of China, which shows that if there are no restrictions, Chinese mobile phones will indeed put some pressure on Apple.
According to Apple's financial report, revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased by 2% from the same period last year, net profit increased by 13%, and the net profit margin was 284%, which indicates that although investment institutions previously believed that iPhone 15 sales had declined, it ultimately exceeded analysts' expectations.
However, while Apple's performance climbed again, the results were not the same across regions: revenue in Greater China fell to 129%, the revenue in Greater China decreased by 3 billion yuan, about 22 billion yuan.
Apple's revenue decline in Greater China is mainly due to the Chinese market, which is the largest mobile phone manufacturer in China, but it is down 10% year-on-year, according to a ranking of Chinese phone activations released by an analytics firm, which is a significant decline.
The main reason for the decline in the number of activators of Apple's mobile phones in the Chinese market is that in China, three brands have grown in the domestic market, one of which has grown by 80%, and the fastest growing Chinese mobile phone brand is considered to be preempting the Apple market and claiming to compete with Apple.
The Chinese mobile phone market was a big blow to Apple, until September 2020, when a Chinese mobile phone brand accounted for nearly 50% of the market share in the Chinese market, which made many mobile phone brands, including Apple, take a big hit.
With shipments of Chinese mobile phone brands falling sharply after September 15, 2020, Apple's rapid growth in China has also won two good years. Apple once accounted for nearly 80% of China's high-end mobile phone market and nearly 20% of China's overall mobile phone market, making China the largest market for iPhones.
Apple suddenly launched a domestic 5G mobile phone at the end of August 2023, and sales have grown rapidly since then, while at the same time, sales in the Chinese market have also declined significantly, with China's high-end phone market share falling by 60%, which directly led to Apple's share of the global high-end phone market falling by 2%.
In contrast, the Chinese mobile phone brand was limited to the domestic market after relaunching 5G phones for various reasons, but with the sales of 5G phones, it quickly occupied two-thirds of the global market share of high-end mobile phones, ranking third, proving that China alone can pose a threat to Apple.
All this shows that Apple is indeed under great pressure from the Chinese mobile phone market, but because Chinese mobile phone brands have not been able to go abroad, Apple has no competitors outside of China, which has driven its shipment growth, made up for losses in the Chinese market, and led to overall revenue growth.