On March 7th, the latest report released by market research firm Counterpoint Research showed that overall smartphone sales in China decreased by 7% year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024, with major manufacturers such as Apple, OPPO, and vivo experiencing double-digit declines. Among them, Apple fell by 24% during this period.
The sales performance of Apple iPhone in the first few weeks of this year was poor for several reasons. Zhang Mengmeng, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said, "Firstly, it faces fierce competition from the strong returning Huawei in the high-end market, while also being squeezed by aggressive pricing from manufacturers such as OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi. Although the iPhone 15 is an excellent device, there has not been a significant upgrade compared to the previous version, so consumers do not have the willingness to replace it temporarily."
At the same time, it should be noted that the sales in the first six weeks of 2023 were exceptionally high. Due to production issues in December 2022, a large amount of replacement demand was delayed until January 2023, which amplified the negative impact of year-on-year comparison.
The Huawei Mate 60 series continues to attract and meet strong market demand, becoming one of the few highlights at the beginning of this year.
"Consumer confidence needs to rise in order to stabilize the market, but considering what is currently happening, especially in the real estate sector, this will be a difficult challenge," said Lin Keyu, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. "For Apple, there is still greater room for maneuver in the short term. This weekend's active promotional activities are an example."
Due to weak consumer spending and limited new product launches, the institution expects overall growth to continue to be negative in the first quarter of 2024.