KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Apple’s iPhone sales in China, its largest overseas market, fell 19% year over year in the March quarter.
- The iPhone maker’s market share rose from first to third in China, roughly on par with rival Huawei Technologies, while the overall market grew 1.5 percent.
- Apple is in trouble in China due to a ban on foreign devices at state-backed companies and Huawei’s launch of a phone with the latest microchip.
Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone sales in China, its largest overseas market, fell 19% year over year in the March quarter, according to market research firm Counterpoint.
The US company’s market share rose from first to third in China, roughly on par with rival Huawei Technologies, while the overall market grew 1.5%.
Apple, which publishes its second quarter financial results in early May, China is in trouble due to a ban on foreign devices at state-backed companies, as well as Huawei’s release of a phone with the latest microchip despite US sanctions over access to the chips advances.
Apple’s woes in China and lack of AI capabilities have weighed on its shares this year, although analysts are generally bullish on the company, noting pent-up demand for the iPhone, growth of revenues from its App Store and the expected AI announcements in June.
Another boost for the stock could come from the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which Apple will launch in China later this year. The headset, Apple’s first foray into a new technology venture in years, launched in the United States earlier this year.
Apple’s decline in China’s ranking stands in stark contrast to last year, when Apple was the top smartphone seller in the country, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), another research firm.
Apple had a 15.7% share of the Chinese smartphone market in the first quarter of this year, according to Counterpoint, up from 19.7% in the same quarter of 2023.
Apple shares, down about 14% this year, were little changed shortly before the open Tuesday.
