In China, Apple Falls From Its Golden Tree

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Apple is struggling in the Chinese market, which used to be extremely favorable to it. This is what we can learn from a study just published by Counterpoint Research. Let's take stock of these figures, which concern the last quarter of 2024.

According to data shared by analysts, iPhone sales have therefore fallen by 18.2% in the Middle Kingdom, signaling a warning for the tech giant in its second market.

In detail, the Apple brand is in third position and controls about a sixth of the local market. This setback has impacted the company globally with iPhone sales down 5% in a crucial Christmas shopping period.

On the ground, Apple is facing competition from Huawei, which is the company that sold the most smartphones this quarter. Quoted by Bloomberg, Mengmeng Zhang, an analyst at Counterpoint, comments:

This is the first time since the American ban that Huawei has regained the leading position. Huawei's sales increased 15.5% year-on-year, driven by the launch of the mid-range Nova 13 series and the high-end Mate 70 series.

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A tough end to the year for Apple

These new models are the first to feature an OS that does not rely on American technology. It runs on the HarmonyOS Next operating system developed by the company.

To make matters worse for Apple, China announced last week that it had stepped up its surveillance of the Cupertino firm's and other American companies' exports. This is enough to hamper their efforts to develop production in Southeast Asia and India. The decision comes as new President Donald Trump threatens to impose 10% tariffs on all Chinese products.

Recall that Counterpoint Research recently reported that the iPhone is losing one point of market share globally. And according to experts, it is precisely the absence of Apple Intelligence in China that is harming the Cupertino company's interests there. Counterpoint CEO Tarun Pathak reported:

Apple's iPhone 16 lineup has received a mixed response, partly due to the lack of availability of Apple Intelligence at launch. However, Apple continued to grow strongly in its non-core markets, such as Latin America.

More information in our previous article here.

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