Recently, Apple's "Battery Gate" incident ended with a settlement of $500 million (approximately 3.58 billion yuan) paid by Apple.
Currently, Apple has begun to distribute compensation to the victims. According to information shared by netizens, some people have gradually received payment, with each compensation of approximately 92.17 US dollars (approximately 660 yuan).
However, Chinese users cannot receive this compensation at all because they have not sued Apple.
Regarding this, Many Chinese netizens have posted an article saying: "I think the battery of 14 pro should be compensated more" "The battery of 14 pro is also problematic, and I have been 92% of it in less than a year." "Is it normal that the battery capacity of 14 pro drops to 89 in less than a year?" "Indeed, the Apple 6 Plus has become too laggy after four years of use, and it would be better not to update the system" "When can I compensate domestic users" "The only advantage of Apple is that it is not stuck now" Domestic users are really used to Apple.
Apple's "Battery Gate" claims 3.58 billion yuan
Each mobile phone receives a compensation of 660 yuan
According to China Economic Weekly, in December 2017, a large number of American users filed a class action lawsuit accusing Apple of "intentionally reducing the performance of the old iPhone.". At that time, Apple responded by stating that it would use a "power management system" to limit the performance limits of certain iPhone models when necessary, in order to prevent accidental shutdown of the phone when the battery ages.
The lawsuit points out that Apple added this restriction to iOS 10.2.1 in February 2017 without informing users, and the affected models include iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone SE.
Although Apple firmly denies all allegations of "misconduct," it ultimately agreed to pay a settlement of $500 million (currently approximately RMB 3.58 billion) in March 2020, of which $310 million (currently approximately RMB 2.22 billion) will be used to compensate users.
Before October 6, 2020, all US users with the affected iPhone models mentioned above can apply for compensation, and each device can submit a claim application. Now this part of the compensation has been settled, with a compensation of $92.17 (approximately RMB 660) per claim.
In addition, not only in the United States, but also in early December 2023, the Seoul High Court in South Korea ruled that Apple would compensate 70000 Korean won (approximately 380 yuan) each to seven Korean iPhone users for the "battery gate" incident.
Institution: iPhone 15 Sales in China plummeted by 30%
Sales in China may further decline this year
According to Caixin, analysts at Jeffrey Investment Bank in the United States released a report on Sunday stating that 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 to the Chinese New Year, with a recent year-on-year decline in sales 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.
According to a report by the Securities Times on January 2nd, Barclays analysts led by Tim Long have downgraded Apple's stock rating to underpriced, with a target price lowered from $161 to $160, which means the company's stock price will fall by 17% over the next year.
In a research report released on Tuesday, Barclays analysts wrote, "Despite most quarters of the past year not meeting expectations, Apple's stock price has performed better than other companies, and we expect this situation to change." Analysts also pointed out that the new iPhone 15 performed mediocrely, with sales and configurations falling short of expectations, and the iPhone 16 is expected to do the same without any more attractive features or upgrades. He also believes that Apple's service business revenue growth will not exceed 10% this year.
In 2023, Apple's stock price surged by nearly 50%, with a market value exceeding $3 trillion at one point. However, at the beginning of 2024, it experienced a continuous decline, with its market value evaporating nearly 170 billion US dollars (approximately 1.2 trillion yuan).
Apple announces the launch date of Vision Pro
Starting price of 25000 yuan
Amidst the ups and downs, on the evening of January 8th local time, Apple's official website announced that the Apple Vision Pro will be launched on February 2nd in all Apple retail and online stores in the United States, with a starting price of $3499 (approximately RMB 25000) and equipped with 256GB of storage space.
According to Apple's official introduction, Vision Pro is a revolutionary spatial computing device that has changed people's way of working, collaborating, connecting, recalling, and entertainment. Vision Pro seamlessly integrates digital content with the physical world, providing users with the most natural and intuitive input methods through their eyes, hands, and voice, unlocking a powerful spatial experience. The new app store provides users with over one million iOS and iPadOS compatible applications, as well as a new experience utilizing the unique features of Vision Pro.
At WWDC in 2023, Apple launched the Apple Vision Pro, marking its first major new product attempt since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2014. Apple has stated that Vision Pro will be released in the United States first, and other countries and regions will be delayed.
At present, Apple has not announced the specific release date of Vision Pro in China.
According to Interface News, considering the high price, the first users of Vision Pro are likely to be professional level users or digital geeks who are willing to spend a lot of money trying new things. For ordinary consumers, it is not easy to spend tens of thousands of yuan to purchase an entertainment device.
Apple is already trying to persuade potential users to purchase the product. According to its introduction, Vision Pro's VisionOS system can provide over one million applications across iOS and iPadOS. That is to say, some common apps on mobile phones and iPads can also be used on Vision Pro, but the specific usage effect will be determined after the official release.
Apple's stock price has also stopped falling and rebounded. As of the close on January 8th local time, Apple's stock price closed at $185.56, up 2.42%, with a total market value of $2.89 trillion.
Daily Economic News is a comprehensive collection of China Economic Weekly, Meijing Video Account, Caixin News Agency, Apple's official website, interface news, and public information