4 ms·

iPhone sales drop 4.5% in China

13 points by rakkhi 3y ago

seec 3y ago
I don't think China's economy is the problem as some say. LVMH has seen a drop but not as big, in fact they talked about a rebound in the first half of 2023. I believe it's the luxury strategy chosen by TC that is going to hurt them in the long run. Recent iPhones on top of being extremely expensive have high long term running cost, high repair price and not even that good resale value now that the market is saturated. Competitors have catched up for the most part and considering all the tradeoffs it has become difficult to justify the price since the 11-12th generation. I believe most people who bought one of those either is waiting MUCH longer or thinking about getting newer tech for much cheaper elsewhere. To make matters worse, Apple sell iPhone at luxury pricing premium but yet offer an experience that feels like getting milked at an arab bazar. They have made very unreasonable choice when it come to some specifications/limitations built-in their expensive models ; for example the CPU is still the fastest around but RAM limitation makes day-to-day use way more painful than a slower processor would be. And when you buy a 1K+ phone at Apple you just get the right to buy overpriced Airpods ; meanwhile Google offer free wireless earbuds with phones costing up to 400 less. That is just an example, but in the end peoples see that and end up realizing they are taken for a ride, then Apple sell less... It is only the start I believe. Next 3 years are going to be fast downhill if commercial strategy doesn't change at Apple...
- mcphage 3y ago
  > for example the CPU is still the fastest around but RAM limitation makes day-to-day use way more painful than a slower processor would be 8GB of RAM seems a useable amount... I'm sure that there are phones out there with more (not sure which?) but I don't think that should be causing any painful limitations.
  - seec 3y ago
    If you don't load too many web pages, nor use too many apps, nor try to game then command tab; etc. Yes, if you have the most basic of needs it is fine. But then if that is the case, a potato computer from 2015 should be fine too. And that makes the "great CPU" case much less compelling because it is basically useless at an extreme price. In other words, the way the product variables have selected makes it a pretty stupid product overall, like most luxury products are. They do not exist to fulfill a need but to flatter the ego of the buyer. And this is EXACTLY what Apple entry level products are, otherwise they make zero sense...
mcpackieh 3y ago
This attributes the drop to a price increase, but I wonder if rising anti-western sentiment has hurt western brands in China generally. Yes I know iPhones are made in China, it's probably still perceived as a western brand relative to Huawei.
- zdragnar 3y ago
  It's possible, but a lot of noise has been made recently of indicators of a flagging economy in China. Their real estate markets, in particular, are very troubled. I suspect that the (perhaps unintentional) "message" is that this is another sign.
- coolspot 3y ago
  They assembled in China, yes, but it is not what makes an iPhone an iPhone. Big Apple campus in North Cal is where all components of iPhone success are made: hardware and software design, marketing, logistics and strategy planning.
gustavus 3y ago
So the actual article states that iPhone 15 sales have dropped relative to the sales generated by the iPhone 14 during the same time period last year. Which is substantially less newsworthy. But a possible explanation is My understanding is that overall China in general is in a worse place economically and many people are in a worse place financially than they were 2 years ago. Which would mean fewe people to spend money on the new iPhone.
ksherlock 3y ago
A month ago, Winnie the Pooh banned iPhones (and all other foreign-branded phones) for employees of the central government and some state-backed firms. Apple shares fell 3% instantly from that news.
j-bos 3y ago
iirc and iiuc, Huaweii did just release the Mate 60 Pro which uses a fully China built chipset, with the exception of the SK Hynix memory.
quyleanh 3y ago
And Huawei overtook the iPhone in the No. 1 spot for market share in China [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/16/apples-iphone-loses-top-spot-in-china-to-huawei-analysts.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/16/apples-iphone-loses-top-spot...
TradingPlaces 3y ago
This likely has to do with the fact that iPhone Pro and Pro Max were backordered into October and November within an hour of going on sale.

13 points by rakkhi 3y ago

seec 3y ago

I don't think China's economy is the problem as some say. LVMH has seen a drop but not as big, in fact they talked about a rebound in the first half of 2023. I believe it's the luxury strategy chosen by TC that is going to hurt them in the long run. Recent iPhones on top of being extremely expensive have high long term running cost, high repair price and not even that good resale value now that the market is saturated. Competitors have catched up for the most part and considering all the tradeoffs it has become difficult to justify the price since the 11-12th generation. I believe most people who bought one of those either is waiting MUCH longer or thinking about getting newer tech for much cheaper elsewhere. To make matters worse, Apple sell iPhone at luxury pricing premium but yet offer an experience that feels like getting milked at an arab bazar. They have made very unreasonable choice when it come to some specifications/limitations built-in their expensive models ; for example the CPU is still the fastest around but RAM limitation makes day-to-day use way more painful than a slower processor would be. And when you buy a 1K+ phone at Apple you just get the right to buy overpriced Airpods ; meanwhile Google offer free wireless earbuds with phones costing up to 400 less. That is just an example, but in the end peoples see that and end up realizing they are taken for a ride, then Apple sell less... It is only the start I believe. Next 3 years are going to be fast downhill if commercial strategy doesn't change at Apple...

mcphage 3y ago
> for example the CPU is still the fastest around but RAM limitation makes day-to-day use way more painful than a slower processor would be 8GB of RAM seems a useable amount... I'm sure that there are phones out there with more (not sure which?) but I don't think that should be causing any painful limitations.
- seec 3y ago
  If you don't load too many web pages, nor use too many apps, nor try to game then command tab; etc. Yes, if you have the most basic of needs it is fine. But then if that is the case, a potato computer from 2015 should be fine too. And that makes the "great CPU" case much less compelling because it is basically useless at an extreme price. In other words, the way the product variables have selected makes it a pretty stupid product overall, like most luxury products are. They do not exist to fulfill a need but to flatter the ego of the buyer. And this is EXACTLY what Apple entry level products are, otherwise they make zero sense...

mcpackieh 3y ago

This attributes the drop to a price increase, but I wonder if rising anti-western sentiment has hurt western brands in China generally. Yes I know iPhones are made in China, it's probably still perceived as a western brand relative to Huawei.

zdragnar 3y ago
It's possible, but a lot of noise has been made recently of indicators of a flagging economy in China. Their real estate markets, in particular, are very troubled. I suspect that the (perhaps unintentional) "message" is that this is another sign.
coolspot 3y ago
They assembled in China, yes, but it is not what makes an iPhone an iPhone. Big Apple campus in North Cal is where all components of iPhone success are made: hardware and software design, marketing, logistics and strategy planning.

gustavus 3y ago

So the actual article states that iPhone 15 sales have dropped relative to the sales generated by the iPhone 14 during the same time period last year. Which is substantially less newsworthy. But a possible explanation is My understanding is that overall China in general is in a worse place economically and many people are in a worse place financially than they were 2 years ago. Which would mean fewe people to spend money on the new iPhone.

ksherlock 3y ago

A month ago, Winnie the Pooh banned iPhones (and all other foreign-branded phones) for employees of the central government and some state-backed firms. Apple shares fell 3% instantly from that news.

j-bos 3y ago

iirc and iiuc, Huaweii did just release the Mate 60 Pro which uses a fully China built chipset, with the exception of the SK Hynix memory.

quyleanh 3y ago

And Huawei overtook the iPhone in the No. 1 spot for market share in China [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/16/apples-iphone-loses-top-spot-in-china-to-huawei-analysts.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/16/apples-iphone-loses-top-spot...

TradingPlaces 3y ago

This likely has to do with the fact that iPhone Pro and Pro Max were backordered into October and November within an hour of going on sale.