Apple released a price reduction forecast today, which triggered concept stocks BYD Electronics (00285. HK), Shunyu Optical Technology (02382. HK), and Fuzhikang Group (02038. HK) to decline, falling 5.44%, 4.13%, and 3.45% respectively.
Note: The performance of Apple concept stocks
In terms of news, on January 15th, the official website of Apple China announced the launch of a limited time promotion for the Chinese New Year from January 18th to 21st. According to Apple, purchasing a designated product through a payment method that meets the conditions can save up to 800 yuan. The discounted products include mobile phones, computers, tablets, watches, headphones, and other products.
Taking a computer as an example, a 13 inch or 15 inch MacBook Air (M2 chip model), or a 13 inch MacBook Air (M1 chip model), can save up to 800 RMB.
In terms of mobile phones, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, or iPhone 13 can save up to 500 RMB.
Apple's announcement of price reduction may be related to poor sales in the first week of this year
According to a report by investment bank Jefferies analysts, Apple has encountered serious setbacks in the Chinese market, with iPhone sales experiencing a sharp decline in the first week of 2024, a 30% decrease from the same period last year. The analyst believes that this is mainly due to fierce competition from local Chinese competitors, especially Huawei's strong counterattack.
The Mate 60 series is seen as Huawei's iconic product returning to the high-end smartphone market after years of US sanctions. The report states that in the fourth quarter of 2023, Huawei's share in the Chinese smartphone market increased by approximately 6%.
Jeffrey analysts predict that Apple will continue to face greater pressure from domestic competitors in 2024. Their forecast shows that Apple's shipment volume will continue to decline in double digits in 2024, while Huawei's market share is expected to continue to expand. Specifically, they estimate that Huawei's global smartphone shipments in 2024 will reach approximately 64 million units, far higher than the estimated less than 35 million units in 2023.
Vision Pro is on the market soon
In addition to Apple's official price reduction, its new VR product Vision Pro will be released on February 2nd. However, Guo Minggui, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, pointed out that whether the sales of this VR device will be hot or not still needs to be considered. He pointed out that if Vision Pro is not selling well, it may take longer for it to succeed, which is not conducive to the short-term stock price performance of Apple and related supply chains.
In addition, Guo Minggui pointed out that the MR/XR specifications and software equipped with Vision Pro significantly exceed the industry average level. However, whether the demand heat can continue after the decline of freshness is more important.