May 7th, China News Network (Wu Tao, China News Finance reporter) If you change your phone, will you still buy an iPhone? Recently, a report pointed out that the once popular iPhone has encountered market coldness, and in the first quarter of this year, the iPhone market share in China has fallen out of the top five.
Even Apple's major shareholder, Berkshire Hathaway, reduced its stake in Apple's stock by about 13% in the first quarter. However, at Berkshire Hathaway's 2024 shareholder meeting, its chairman Warren Buffett stated that this was due to tax reasons.
IPhone shipments are declining
According to a research report by TechInsights, the shipment volume of smartphones in China in the first quarter of 2024 was 63.3 million units, a year-on-year increase of 1%. Apple fell out of the top five with a market share of 13.7%.
Screenshot of TechInsights research report. Apple has slipped out of the top five in the Chinese mobile phone market share.
Data from multiple institutions also shows that Apple's shipment volume declined in the first quarter of this year. According to IDC data, Apple tied for third place in the domestic market in the first quarter, with a year-on-year decrease of 6.6% in shipment volume. According to Canalys data, despite facing challenges in its core market, Apple experienced a double-digit decline in global shipments in the first quarter, dropping to 48.7 million units, ranking second.
The latest financial report released by Apple in May showed that the company's revenue in the first three months of this year was $90.753 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4%; The revenue of the Greater China region was 16.372 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 8%.
Who snatched the market for iPhones?
As the former leader of smartphones, the iPhone used to require consumers to raise prices to purchase from scalpers after the new iPhone was launched. However, it seems that the market share is clearly declining. Who has seized the market share of the iPhone?
According to a TechInsights research report, OPPO/OnePlus, Honor, Huawei, and vivo had comparable market share in the first quarter. OPPO/OnePlus leads the Chinese smartphone market with a market share of 16.9%.
"Honor, Huawei, and vivo followed closely behind, ranking second to fourth with market shares of 16.7%, 16.6%, and 16.1%, respectively. Xiaomi ranked fifth with a market share of 15.0%. The top six smartphone manufacturers collectively held 95.1% of the market share," the research report stated.
Communication industry observer Xiang Ligang said in an interview with China News Finance that during the days when Huawei did not release high-end flagship models, Apple was still living a relatively good life because other domestic mobile phone manufacturers were not strong enough. However, with Huawei's return, a large part of Apple's high-end market was taken away.
Is iPhone still competitive?
IDC analysis shows that although Apple is constantly adjusting prices and promoting products, it is facing increasing challenges and pressure from competitors, and urgently needs to upgrade and innovate in all aspects of software and hardware to attract consumers.
In January of this year, Apple China's official website launched a rare "Spring Festival limited time discount", with participating products including smartphones, computers, tablets, watches, headphones, and Apple Pencil. The iPhone 15 series was reduced by 500 yuan. In fact, on major e-commerce platforms, iPhone price reductions have long been initiated, with some merchants directly lowering prices by 800 yuan. IPhone is a frequent customer among the billions of subsidies in e-commerce.
Despite this, as shown by the above data, Apple's shipment volume is still declining. Xiang Ligang analyzed that in recent years, the competitiveness of iPhones has been insufficient, traditional features have not been well developed, and new features lack innovation. For example, poor signal, insufficient battery life, and instability at low temperatures; On the other hand, there is a lack of innovation in satellite communication, mobile screen anti drop, AI shooting, and other areas.
But there are also views that suggest that Apple is likely to announce its AI strategy in 2024, driving the development of its high-end products. (End)