Apple "Buddha" to bring goods? The live broadcast debut was watched by 1.3 million people, there was no "link on 321", or it was recorded...

At 7 p.m. on May 31, Apple's Tmall official flagship store opened a live broadcast, which was also Apple's first official live broadcast worldwide. According to data disclosed by Taobao on June 1, nearly 1.3 million people watched the live broadcast, and the live broadcast room received 300,000 likes within one hour, and many products were snapped up.

However, unlike other brands of live streaming goods, Apple's live streaming did not go "3, 2, 1, on the link!" ", but teach netizens how to shoot videos with iPhones, how to use AppleWatch to make sports records, and so on. It also made many netizens shout: "No marketing is the best marketing." ”

Although the tone of the Apple brand is still maintained when the live broadcast is still maintained, the participation in the live broadcast itself also means that Apple has encountered sales pressure and tried to open up sales channels on more channels. In the second fiscal quarter of fiscal 2023 (as of April 1 this year), Apple's revenue fell 2.51% year-on-year, and net profit fell 3.4% year-on-year, which has been declining for two consecutive quarters.

Apple began to let go of "reserved"

For many years, Apple has always been reserved in marketing, not officially reducing prices, not participating in promotional activities, so as to maintain the high-end attributes of the brand.

But in recent years, Apple, which has always been reserved, has also begun to "roll up its sleeves" and "roll" with other mobile phone manufacturers. In May 2020, Tmall announced that Apple would participate in its "June 18" promotion for the first time in an official form. According to Tmall, iPhone 11 and other full-line products support 40 minus every 300 across stores, and provide 150 yuan venue discounts, and the overall discount range of participating products can reach about 20% off the original price.

"June 18" in 2020 is the first time that Apple has officially participated in China's shopping festival, and it can also be seen as the starting point for Apple to begin to put down its reserve in the Chinese market. After that, Apple's marketing strategy in the Chinese market was more proactive.

From July 29 to August 1, 2022, Apple launched a rare summer promotion on China's official website, saving 600 yuan on the purchase of the iPhone 13 series, 500 yuan on the purchase of the iPhone 12 or iPhone 12mini, and discounts on products such as Apple WatchSE and AirPodsPad.

At 7 p.m. on May 31 this year, Apple's Tmall official flagship store opened its first live broadcast with goods, which can also be seen as Apple's follow-up action to increase the number of Chinese markets.

However, sharp-eyed netizens found that the word "recording" was written in the upper right corner of Apple's live broadcast room, and the live broadcast did not call users to "place an order", there was no "lowest price on the whole network", only practical teaching for products such as iPhone and Apple Watch. Despite this, Apple's live broadcast still attracted nearly 1.3 million people to watch, and many products in the live broadcast room sold well. Some netizens commented: "Apple sold the most goods with the most Buddhist attitude. ”

Sales pressures behind marketing

In fact, every time Apple actively increases marketing in the Chinese market, it is under the pressure of sales.

Like Tmall "6·18" in 2020, Apple entered the war for the first time, because in 2019, Apple's mobile phone sales in the Chinese market fell sharply, and its market share shrank.

According to Canalys data compiled by the China Business Industry Research Institute, among the top five mobile phone manufacturers in China's smartphone sales in 2019, Apple only ranked fifth. The first place is Huawei, with 142 million mobile phone sales in 2019, an increase of 37.2 million units from 2018, and a market share of 38.5%. Apple ranked fifth, with 27.5 million mobile phone sales in China in 2019, less than a fraction of Huawei's, down 7.1 million units from 2018, and its market share fell to 7.5%.

If other mobile phone brands such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo at that time, although their sales in China surpassed Apple, it was difficult to shake Apple's position in the high-end machine market, then Huawei's strong growth touched Apple's dominance in the high-end machine field. Therefore, in 2020's "June 18", Apple began to actively increase the Chinese market, hoping to consolidate its influence in China's high-end machine market.

Since then, Huawei has been limited by chips, its market share has declined, and Apple's situation in the Chinese market has improved, but it still faces strong competitive pressure. According to CINNOResearch data, the top five mobile phone sales in the Chinese market in the first half of 2022 are OPPO, Honor, Apple, vivo and Xiaomi. Among them, Honor stood out, with shipments of 22.3 million units in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 118.3%, ranking second. Apple shipped 21.9 million units, down 2.9% year-on-year, ranking only third.

In the face of a decline in sales in the first half of last year, Apple's China official website launched a summer promotion from July 29 to August 1, 2022, aiming to boost sales.

The debut of Apple's live broadcast in the official flagship store of Tmall is also behind its performance pressure in China.

On May 5, Apple released its financial report for the second fiscal quarter of 2023 (as of April 1), in the second fiscal quarter, Apple achieved revenue of $94.8 billion, down 2.51% year-on-year, and net profit of $24.1 billion, down 3.4% year-on-year. In the Chinese market, Apple's sales in the quarter were $17.8 billion, down 2.9%, which has exceeded the decline in Apple's overall revenue, which means that Apple has encountered some pressure in the Chinese market.

And this pressure is also related to the overall sluggish sales of the mobile phone market. According to IDC data, China's smartphone market shipped about 65.44 million units in the first quarter, down 11.8% year-on-year. This "sales winter" in the mobile phone market is not only in China, according to Omdia, global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2023 totaled 269 million units, down 12.7% year-on-year.

Under the influence of the global consumer electronics winter, it is reasonable for Apple to increase its weight in major markets and promote the pace of marketing.

Apple boosts the Indian market

In addition to the Chinese market, Apple has also continued to increase its weight in the Indian market recently.

On April 18, Apple opened its first retail store in India, and Apple CEO Tim Cook personally attended the opening ceremony. At Apple's earnings conference in February, Cook also said that India is an "exciting" market that will also be the focus of Apple's attention.

According to foreign media reports, Apple opened two Apple stores in India, with sales of between 440 million and 500 million rupees (about 37.98 million yuan - 43.16 million yuan) in the first month, which is more than double the highest revenue of other electronics stores in the country during the non-Diwali festival (one of the most important festivals of the year in India, equivalent to the "New Year").

According to a research report by Wall Street investment bank Bernstein, the Indian market currently accounts for about 2.5% of total iPhone sales and about 1.5% to 2% of Apple's total sales. With India's strong economic growth, iPhone sales in the region will grow at an annual rate of 20% over the next five years.

Apple's increase in the Indian market is not only limited to the sales level, but more importantly, the manufacturing level. In May this year, Apple announced the list of suppliers for fiscal year 2022, of which 10 new Chinese suppliers were added, but 13 Chinese suppliers were reduced, and the overall number declined. India, on the other hand, added three new suppliers, bringing the total to 14. This means that Apple is paying more and more attention to Indian manufacturing.

According to the Dongguan Securities Research Report, Apple assembled more than $7 billion of iPhones in India in the fiscal year ending in March this year. Through the expansion of partners such as Foxconn and Pegatron, Apple currently produces nearly 7% of iPhones in India, while India's iPhone production in 2021 accounted for only about 1% of the world's iPhone.

However, will Apple's layout in the Indian market really be smooth sailing? According to Indian media reports, Wistron, one of Apple's main suppliers, plans to fully withdraw from the Indian market. It is understood that Wistron is the first company to produce iPhones in India, but due to problems such as low profits in manufacturing iPhones in India, the company decided to withdraw from India.

Due to India's overall low education level, high illiteracy rate, cultural diversity, and language inconsistency, the development of Wistron and Foxconn foundries in India has encountered many difficulties. It will take a long time for Apple to increase its weight in the Indian market and reduce its dependence on Chinese foundries.

Column editor-in-chief: Qin Hong Text editor: Cheng Pei Title picture source: Shangguan title picture Photo editor: Zhu Huang

Source: Author: Securities Times