According to a report released by Jeffrey analysts at the US investment bank on Sunday, the decline in sales of Apple's iPhone in the Chinese market is intensifying, and iPhone sales in China may further decline this year.
Analysts such as Edison Lee cited industry surveys in their report, stating that Apple's latest generation iPhone 15 series, released in September last year, had a poor start in sales in China, with a recent year-on-year decline expanding to 30%.
In contrast, sales of other brands in the Chinese mobile phone market increased last month, with Huawei, which launched the Mate 60 device series, showing the fastest growth. Huawei launched the Mate 60 series smartphones at the end of August last year. Jeffrey estimates that Huawei's smartphone shipments in 2023 will be 35 million units.
Last December, iPhone sales experienced a double-digit percentage decline, and Jeffrey expects a similar decline for Apple phones in 2024. Last week, major online shopping websites increased discounts on iPhones and lowered the average selling price, but failed to stimulate sales growth.
The iPhone can be said to be Apple's most important product, with about half of the company's revenue coming from the iPhone. Apple's revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 (the third quarter of the calendar year) was $89.5 billion, while revenue from the iPhone was $43.805 billion.
Last week, Barclays and Piper Sandler both downgraded Apple's stock rating, and both investment banks were not optimistic about iPhone sales this year.
Affected by a downgrade in ratings, Apple's stock price closed lower for all four trading days last week (Monday closed for New Year's Day), with a cumulative market value evaporating nearly $170 billion. If we include the last trading day of last year, Apple's stock price has fallen for five consecutive days.
As of last Friday's close, Apple's stock price has fallen nearly 10% from its historical high closing price set in mid December last year, currently at $181.18 per share, with a total market value of $2.81 trillion.
As Apple's stock price continues to decline, Microsoft is expected to regain the position of the world's highest market value company, with a current market value of $2.73 trillion.
Since July 2022, Apple has been the world's highest listed company by market value, with a market value exceeding $3 trillion in the middle of last year, becoming the first company to achieve this milestone.