On February 2, Apple released its latest quarterly earnings report, disclosing performance data for the fourth quarter of 2023, and overall, Apple recorded positive growth. However, it is surprising that while North America, Europe and even South Korea, the "hometown" of Samsung, have achieved good performance, the revenue of Greater China, which has long been cherished, has declined.
Experts point out that the reason why Apple is the only one in China is that in addition to the cliché of domestic brands to carve up the high-end market, compared with other regions, Apple's shipping channels are also slightly thin, if you want to reverse the status quo, you not only need to continue to improve product strength, but also adapt measures to local conditions in operation and management.
"Folded" in China
According to Apple's disclosure data, its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 is 1195$7.5 billion, up from $1171 a year earlier$5.4 billion increased 2% and operating profit was 403$7.3 billion, up from $360 a year earlier$1.6 billion, an increase of 121%；Net profit 339$1.6 billion, up 13% from $30 billion in the year-ago quarter.
However, Apple's "folding" in Greater China exceeded industry expectations, after Wall Street analysts** reported that this part of the revenue was about $23.5 billion, but in fact, Apple's revenue from Greater China was 208$1.9 billion, up from $23.9 billion in the year-ago quarter**129%, as for the reason for the decline, Apple's chief financial officer bluntly said, "China is the most competitive market in the world."
From the perspective of the industry, one of the two most important aspects of competition is the change of the high-end market pattern, and the other is the disruption brought about by the AI device-side large model. From the perspective of the brand pattern, in the second half of 2023, not only will Huawei Mate 60 come out, but Xiaomi 14 Pro will also steal part of Apple's share in the high-end market, and brands such as Honor have also become strong competitors in mobile phones priced above $800 by virtue of their efforts in folding screens in recent years.
The subversion brought by AI is even more distinct, and when a number of domestic brands are catching up, Apple's update on AI will be unveiled as soon as the middle of this year. In this regard, Liang Zhenpeng, a senior industrial economic observer, told a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that it is undeniable that there are still limitations in the application of the mobile phone side model, and when the cloud model is in the ascendant, the third-party APP even meets the user's demand for intelligence and weakens the aura of the end side model. However, in terms of brand image, when the end-side large model becomes a must-have, the mobile phone that is absent from AI will naturally lose points in the minds of consumers.
Experts believe that behind the high price and large-scale sales of Apple's mobile phone, it is supported by its brand image, if it is inferior to domestic brands in technical indicators, its best strategy is naturally difficult to maintain, although now Apple also differentiates different product conditions for iPhone, but whether it is high-end, affordable products, compared with the current Android mobile phone does not reflect the cost-effective advantage.
It needs to be adapted to local conditions
In the opinion of experts, it would be biased to attribute Apple's failure in China only to the encroachment of domestic brands. Looking at the world's mobile phone brand pattern in 2023, Samsung and Apple are inseparable, but in Samsung's hometown of South Korea, the sales momentum of iPhone is still good.
In terms of data, according to statistics from market tracking agency Atlas Research and Consulting, since the iPhone 15 series was officially launched in South Korea on October 13 last year, the sales volume in the first month increased by 41% compared with the same period of the previous year9%。Among them, the sales of the basic iPhone 15 model have more than doubled, and the sales of the iPhone 15 Pro Max have also increased by 423%。
In addition, in the United States, Europe, Japan and other markets, Apple has achieved positive growth, and Apple's largest market, the Americas, has a revenue of 504300 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 23%, an increase of nearly 26% month-on-month; The revenue of Europe, the second largest market, was $30.4 billion, an increase of 9% year-on-year8%, an increase of 35% month-on-month; Japanese income 77US$700 million, up 15% year-on-year and 41% sequentially. Industry experts pointed out that the difference in Apple's performance in different markets depends not only on the popularity of its products, but also on the way it operates and channels. Industry observer Major General Ding believes that in North America, Japan and other markets, Apple's cooperation with local communication operators is very deep, and its growth in South Korea also depends on operators to give more discounts. Specifically, carriers will sell iPhones with calls**, and provide discounts such as installment payments, monthly guaranteed consumption, etc., especially since iPhone 14, Apple has gradually replaced SIM cards with eSim, that is, traditional SIM cards are embedded in mobile phone chips, so that Apple and operators are more close.
The existence of operators has undoubtedly opened up an important channel for Apple in addition to physical stores and dealers, but in the Chinese market, due to consumer habits, security, laws and regulations, etc., it is difficult for iPhone to cooperate with dealers to ship.
Experts point out that Apple's operation in Greater China, especially the sales of iPhone, has not yet been fully adapted to local conditions, for example, Apple's cooperation with e-commerce platforms can be deepened, so that it can open up new growth space, in the case of market differentiation, Apple's business channels need to become more flexible and refined.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Tao Feng Wang Zhuli.