Apple’s progress in dominating the Chinese smartphone market has been halted due to several factors, such as the resurrection of Huawei paired with weak consumer demand. These reasons are why the iPhone 15 series has ended up performing worse than the iPhone 14 from last year.
Analysts estimate a 4.5 percent drop in shipments for the iPhone 15 in China, which equates to millions of units
Just 17 days after its official launch, the iPhone 15 might be in high demand in several countries, but the Chinese market reveals a completely different scenario. A report from Bloomberg states that last year’s iPhone 14 sold better in this region, with analysts estimating a 4.5 percent shipments drop. Unfortunately for Apple, the situation is not expected to improve in the region. Even if weak consumer demand was the sole factor, the technology giant would have pushed along and gained traction in the coming weeks.
Sadly, the emergence of Huawei and its Kirin 9000S chipset that powers a family of Mate 60 models has generated a host of problems for the likes of Apple and Qualcomm. Earlier, it was reported that even the highly expensive versions of the Mate 60, which is the ‘Ultimate Design’ variant, were out of stock the majority of the time, with the entire lineup outselling the iPhone 15. Though exact figures have yet to be shared, this popularity surge of Huawei is sure to cause Apple a headache going into 2024.
Previously, TrendForce outlined some challenges that would make it difficult for Apple to continue selling iPhones at the same momentum in 2024, with one of them named Huawei. Once more, the former Chinese giant’s name was mentioned in the latest report, stating that the company will affect the customer’s buying decision, taking away market share from its rival.
Fortunately, a loss in one region possibly means a gain in the second, and with the number of upgrades present in the ‘Pro’ models, Apple can offset its losses in China by gaining a foothold in the U.S. market, that is, until Huawei decides to branch out to other countries.
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