iPhone 16 with updated AI tools will be key for Apple to benefit from the recovery of the Chinese market!
The coming months of 2024 will represent a boost for iPhone sales in China, one of the most important for Apple, according to a report by investment firm TD Cowen. In general a stabilization outlook is expected, thanks to 4% growth in the Chinese smartphone market between 2024 and 2025. Which is evaluated as significant, after periods of consecutive decline.
According to Apple’s financial results for the first quarter of 2024, Total iPhone sales in China were $20.82 billion. It is a drop of 13% compared to the same period in 2023. Even so, these figures positioned the iPhone as “the fourth of the six best-selling smartphones in urban areas of China”, according to statements by CEO, Tim Cook.
Apple improves in China, but it is not enough
Despite growth expectations, TD Cowen stands by its previous prediction that Apple will sell 48 million iPhones at the end of the March quarter, but says that will be reduced to 39 million by the June quarter.
TD Cowen states that still there are economic problems in China and also that current shipping figures look better year after yearmainly because the iPhone 14 range had production problems in 2022 – 2203. And although the iPhone 15 figures appear stable, the investment firm is confident that the introduction of the iPhone 16 range with AI-based features would increase demand.
In the case of Android mobiles, there is already a clearer return to the sales figures prior to the last two particularly difficult years. Samsung and Huawei are doing better, and TD Cowen said their “targets have increased modestly.”
Several reasons put Apple’s dominance in China at risk
This new situation will be the best opportunity to verify or refute some Reports suggesting that the drop in iPhone sales in China is due to a lack of market interest in Apple’s mobile.
An article published this week in The New York Timesensures that iPhone sales fell 24% from the previous year, according to Counterpoint Research, which analyzes the smartphone market. While Sales of one of Apple’s former Chinese rivals, Huawei, increased by 64%.
The article quotes Linda Sui, senior director at market research firm TechInsightswho summed up Apple’s future in a blunt sentence:
“Apple’s golden era in China is over.”
One of the most important reasons is the growing tension between the United States and China over trade and technologySui said. Without a significant decrease in geopolitical tension, it will be difficult for Apple to maintain its position.