In 2024, Apple, which has always been a high-end brand in the global market, will usher in an unprecedented severe test.
Recently, Counterpoint released a set of new market reports. According to the data, in the first quarter of 2024, Apple's mobile phone sales have experienced a very dismal performance decline, plummeting by 19.1% year-on-year, becoming the largest decline among the six leading brands in the Chinese market in that quarter, and at the same time, it has also recorded Apple's worst performance in the Chinese mainland market since 2020. It is worth mentioning that since the beginning of the year, the performance of the iPhone in the Chinese market in the first quarter has been in a continuous and sharp downward trend, in January and February, sales fell by 39% and 33% compared with the same period last year for two consecutive months.
In fact, the sluggish iPhone sales this year are not limited to the Chinese market. Relevant data show that the iPhone currently accounts for only 1/3 of the newly activated smartphones in the United States, compared with 40% in the past year, has shrunk significantly, and even set a record that the share of the iPhone in the smartphone activation market has fallen to the lowest value in six years, which is obviously an extremely dangerous signal.
The upward growth of domestic mobile phones has hit the boom of the high-end market
In the Chinese market, the accelerated exploration of local brands into the high-end market has gradually brought more pressure to Apple. Compared with Apple's sharp decline in the Chinese market in the first quarter, the major local brands in the first echelon are diametrically opposed, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Honor have all achieved significant performance growth, especially Huawei, which achieved a substantial growth of 69.7% in the local market in the first quarter, and Yanran has become the strongest dark horse with the strongest growth.
It is undeniable that after experiencing a series of external force majeure factors, Huawei is now returning with its new product strength and market strategy, and the brutal rebound of performance has brought huge market pressure to Apple.
Unlike Apple, Huawei, as a well-established local brand, has obvious additional advantages in terms of brand appeal and localized operations. This means that under the severe test of having to face greater market competition pressure, iPhone sales are weak, and slowing down or negative growth will inevitably become the norm.
In the first quarter, the answer was already given in terms of the overall trend of the Chinese market. At the same time period, in the same regional market, Huawei achieved a sharp increase in performance of nearly 70%, while Apple fell into a negative growth dilemma of 19.1%, and the growth momentum and situation between the two are clear at a glance.
From the perspective of products and consumer markets, the Huawei Mate60 series and Huawei Pura 70 series have won a far leading market response in the local market, and they ushered in a highlight moment of selling out in one minute as soon as they were released. In addition, the market popularity of Huawei's high-end series products has not only achieved a short-term outbreak, but also maintained the popularity for a long time. Although in the second-hand mobile phone market, Huawei's series of high-end mobile phone products can also maintain a high popularity and a relatively stable value retention rate, in contrast, Apple's situation and market performance are not optimistic.
Unlike Huawei, Apple's performance in the consumer market is clearly on a downward slope. The first sale of the iPhone 15 series broke down, not only failed to be increased by the channel market due to its best-selling sales, but the channel quotation fell below the issue price on the first sale day.
It is an indisputable fact that the competitiveness of iPhone products is declining, resulting in weak sales in the market. From the data of the local market in the first quarter, it reflects the true portrayal of the market trend: Huawei is growing, Apple is declining. Technological innovation is the primary competitiveness of products, and Huawei's investment in technological innovation and independent R&D has gradually provided extremely powerful empowerment for its products. Huawei's dual capabilities, including dual satellite communications, basalt tempered Kunlun glass, HarmonyOS, and industry-leading image shooting, have given Huawei a strong product competitiveness in the high-end mobile phone market.
In recent years, the new iPhone has stayed in the conventional upgrade of hardware configuration, and has been widely complained about as "squeezing toothpaste", in the face of fierce competition and the market status quo of rapid iteration of various technology updates, Apple and iPhone are obviously inadvertently gradually falling behind.
In addition, the influence of external factors in the industry and the market is also not conducive to the growth of iPhone sales.
With the continuous rise in the price of mobile phones, the update and iteration and continuous improvement of process technology, the overall quality and durability of mobile phones are also improving. After consumers buy a mobile phone, the normal product life cycle can even be as long as three to five years, and if the daily use intensity is not high and the demand is not high, the use cycle can be longer. This means that smart phones are no longer fast-moving consumer goods in the consumer market, and there is no need for frequent replacement of new phones, and the smart phone industry, which no longer enjoys the demographic dividend, has entered the era of the stock market from the incremental market. Compared with other local brands, the average price of iPhone products with significantly higher prices will naturally be affected more obviously because they do not have a price advantage.
Overall, there are a variety of factors that have led to weak iPhone sales and increasingly poor sales. The lack of technological innovation in its own products and technology has led to the fact that compared with the old iPhone, the new iPhone is limited to conventional hardware upgrades, but it has failed to bring more innovative and bright spots that are more attractive to consumers.
In addition, Huawei's strong rebound has brought more obvious competitive pressure to Apple in China's high-end market, if no measures are taken, according to this trend, it seems that the iPhone is becoming more and more difficult to sell, or it will become Apple's norm in the Chinese market......