iPhone 15 domestic sales are sluggish, and Cook's annual salary in 23 years has been significantly reduced
In 2023, Apple has encountered unprecedented pressure in the Chinese market. With the return of Huawei's Kirin chips and 5G mobile phones, Apple's sales in the domestic market have declined sharply, which has directly affected the company's domestic revenue. As Apple's CEO, Tim Cook has also undergone an annual salary adjustment as a result.
(Source: @TimCook)
Apple's iPhone 15 series had a bad start to sales in China last year, and the decline has continued to widen. The report of Jefferies, an analyst at the US investment bank, pointed out that it was down 30% year-on-year compared to the previous generation. Apple's sales in China are also expected to decline by double digits this year.
In the Q4 quarter of 2023, when Apple hit sales, although sales still ranked first, the number of mobile phone activations decreased by 10.6% year-on-year. On the other hand, Xiaomi and Huawei, two domestic mobile phone manufacturers, increased the number of activations by 38.4% and 79.3% respectively, which is an extremely obvious increase.
(Source: Digital Chat Station)
In this context, Tim Cook's annual salary has dropped from 99.4 million US dollars (about 710 million yuan) in 2022 to 63.2 million US dollars (about 450 million yuan), a drop of 36%. This adjustment is clearly closely related to Apple's performance in the Chinese market. At the same time, Cook's compensation structure has changed, with stock awards worth $75 million shrunk to $40 million.
It is important to note that although Cook's annual salary has decreased, his compensation is still at a very high level compared to the average employee. In fact, Cook's actual income in 2023 also exceeded his target compensation by nearly 29%. This reflects that despite the performance pressure, Cook's position and treatment at Apple are still relatively solid.
(Source: @TimCook)
As for the reason for Cook's salary cut, the document explained that it was to balance shareholder feedback, Apple's performance, and Cook's proposal to adjust his salary based on the feedback. This shows that despite the challenges facing the market, Apple is still trying to find a balance between internal and external stakeholders.
Looking back at Cook's salary changes, from $14.77 million in 2020 to $98.7 million in 2021 to $99.4 million in 2022, the rate of increase in his salary is remarkable. This also reflects Apple's rapid growth and success over the past few years.
However, as the global smartphone market competition intensifies, especially in the Chinese market, facing the rapid rise of brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi in the high-end market, Apple needs to find new growth points and innovative strategies.
(Source: Apple's official website)
In the future, we look forward to seeing how Apple responds to the current challenges and regains its leading position in the global market. For Cook, it will be an important task for Cook to adjust his strategy and make products meet the needs of global consumers while ensuring the company's stable and sustainable development.