On January 15, Apple's official website in China launched a rare event preview, which will open the "New Year Limited Time Offer" from January 18th to 21st. Apple says it can save up to $800 on select products with eligible payment methods.
The specific benefits are as follows:
iPhone 15 Pro、iPhone 15 Pro Max、iPhone 15、iPhone 15 Plus、iPhone 14、iPhone 14 Plus或iPhone 13最高可立省500元。
13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Air (M2 chip model) and 13-inch MacBook Air (M1 chip model) can save up to 800 yuan.
iPad Pro iPad Air iPad(1,000) iPad miniiPad 1,400⻠⻠⻠⻠.
Apple Watch SE可立省200元。
AirPods（第三代）、AirPods（第二代）最高可立省100元。
Apple Pencil（第二代）可立省50元。
As soon as the news came out, the topic "Rare price reduction on Apple's official website" topped the hot search list on Weibo, causing heated discussions among netizens. Some netizens said: "I just bought it".
Earlier, analysts at Wall Street investment bank Jefferies said in a report that Apple's iPhone sales in China fell by 30% in the first week of 2024.
The iPhone is arguably Apple's most important product, and about half of the company's revenue comes from it.
Recently, Harsh Kumar, an analyst at investment bank Piper Sandler, downgraded Apple, citing concerns about insufficient demand for iPhones.
Kumar believes that Apple's mobile phone sales growth has peaked, and is concerned that its mobile phone inventory in the first half of 2024 is too high, downgraded its rating from "overweight" to "neutral", and lowered its price target by $15 to $205. However, since March 2020, Kumar has been bullish on Apple.
It's not just Piper Sandler who is bearish on Apple, Barclays also downgraded Apple stock from "neutral" to "underweight" and lowered its price target to $160, which Barclays expects Apple to fall by more than 15% in 2024.
Barclays analyst Tim Long believes that the poor sales of the iPhone 15 will continue, and although the iPhone 16 has not yet been released, no major upgrades are expected to stimulate consumers to upgrade. Barclays also pointed out that the decline in consumer electronics is likely to continue for a long time, which is a huge challenge for Apple.
In the Chinese market, Apple's mobile phone sales are also under pressure. According to market research firm Counterpoint, sales of the iPhone 15 fell by 4.5% compared to the iPhone 14 in the 17 days after its release. In the report, Barclays noted that iPhone 15 sales in China, one of Apple's largest markets, were "lackluster" and that "Macs, iPads and wearables lacked rebound."
Wall Street is almost unanimously bullish on US tech giants, but more cautious about Apple. Among the big tech companies, Apple is the only one with a decline in revenue over the past four quarters. Wall Street analysts estimate that Apple's revenue will grow by just 3.6% and profit growth by 7.9% in fiscal 2024.
Apple's financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 (third quarter of calendar year) ended September 30, 2023 showed that operating income for the period was $89.5 billion, down 1% year-on-year, and net profit was $22.956 billion, up 11% year-on-year.
According to U.S. media reports, on January 12, local time, Microsoft surpassed Apple with a market value of $2.89 trillion at the close of the day, regaining its position as the world's most valuable company. According to the report, Microsoft's market capitalization is back at the top because of its success in the field of artificial intelligence, while Apple is facing a series of problems such as declining market share.
Comprehensive: China Economic Net, Apple's official website, CCTV Finance
Source: International Tourism Island Business Daily