Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had recently confirmed that demand for the iPhone is weaker than they expected, and that a market that they’re seeing the most weakness in is China. It is unclear why that might be as there could be several reasons, such as cheaper alternatives from local brands, and the ongoing trade war between the US and China which could prompt locals to support Chinese brands.
For those who might be wondering how bad the situation in China is for Apple, according to Strategy Analytics, it seems that Apple has experienced a 22% decrease in iPhone shipments to the country. Based on their findings, Apple shipped about 10 million iPhones to China in Q4 2018. This is a lot of phones, but when you compare it to the 14 million they shipped in Q4 2017, that’s a huge difference.
In fact their numbers seem to suggest that Apple’s foothold in China isn’t what it used to be. Local companies such as Huawei and Vivo have only seen an increase in shipments from 90.8 million to 105.1 million for Huawei, and 73.1 million to 79.3 million for Vivo. It is anyone’s guess as to what Apple can do to turn things around for themselves, although last we heard, the company had authorized discounts for its phones in China which should make it more accessible.
However like we said, another possibility for flagging sales is due to the ongoing trade war where we have heard how some Chinese companies are punishing employees who use iPhones, while others are offering incentives to employees to make the switch to a local brand.