Roger Fingas
Apple's otherwise solid June-quarter results were held back by a 10 percent year-over-year revenue drop in China, likely caused by the iPhone's slipping position in the local market.
"Greater China" revenues fell from $8.848 billion to $8.004 billion, according to Apple's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company was also down from $10.726 billion in Q2 2017, but the June quarter is typically a slow period as few products are launched and many shoppers wait for new iPhones in the fall.
Apple is just barely holding on to fifth place in the Chinese smartphone market, according to Canalys estimates. The top four spots are held by local Android-based brands Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi.
The main issue is likely price, since Apple doesn't offer any low- to mid-range phones apart from older models. Its competition being local and Android-based may offer a further cost advantage, even though many Apple supply and assembly partners are based in the country.
Globally Apple took in some $45.4 billion in revenue during the June quarter, driven by sales of over 41 million iPhones. China was the only region to see a decline, despite one-time predictions that it would eclipse the Americas. In fact the latter saw revenues climb 13 percent year-over-year to $20.376 billion, and Europe grew 11 percent to $10.675 billion.
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9 Comments
Doesn't surprise me. Cheap phones will always outsell iPhones but I'd like to know if there are any stats on how long Chinese buyers are keeping their iPhones before rebuying. That market might not have gotten to the point where the majority of iPhone owners are ready for an upgrade.
I think if Apple would update the iPhone with some China specific colours (a different one each year) that would have a meaningful impact on sales... It is all about what is new there...
I'm still an iPhone owner, but I'm hanging on to it longer, due to price. I can only imagine in China price being even more of an issue. Let's be honest, there's only so far you can go in market share at these prices. Apple will probably make the 7 available there cheaper, after 7s and 8 are released, which is probably the best idea. So, they'll go more expensive (8 or X) and less expensive (7), with 7s in the middle.
Big deal. Upgrade cycles are slower in poorer countries. I am guessing it's greater than two years in China.
I predict that sales of the iPhone 8 in China will go through the roof.
Why the media never know this fact? China like India impose huge import tax on iPhone despite being manufactured in China. Samsung was hurt for the same reason in China. Don't you notice Samsung is not even in the top five despite being the largest smartphone maker in the world?