① Domestic iPhone shipments fell 37% in the first two months of this year, causing strong concerns in the capital market; ② The increase in shipments is related to discount promotions under pressure; ③ Due to Apple's uncertainty in the AI field, the iPhone sales alert has not yet been lifted.
Finance Association, May 28 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng) On Tuesday morning, local time, along with the latest Chinese smartphone shipment data showing that iPhone sales in China continued to rebound.$Apple (AAPL.US)$The stock price rose slightly, and we are only a stone's throw from a record high and a market capitalization of $3 trillion.
As of press release, under the influence of this news, Apple has now risen more than 1% to 192.12 US dollars. The last time the company reached a record high was on December 14 of last year, reaching a high of 199.62 US dollars. The closing price of that day was 198.11 US dollars. After entering 2024, Apple's stock price dived along with the sluggish iPhone sales situation, falling as low as 164 US dollars at the end of April.
Has the decline stopped?
The latest benefit comes from the April domestic mobile phone market operation analysis report released by the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology on Tuesday. Keen media calculated backwards that shipments of foreign mobile phone brands increased significantly by 52% in April, from 2.3 million units in the same period last year to close to 3.5 million units. Since the foreign brand phones in this statistic basically all point to Apple, the surge in data can be attributed entirely to the rebound in iPhone sales.
In the first two months of this year, domestic iPhone shipments dropped 37%. As Apple's official and dealers in China continued to cut prices, iPhone sales increased 12% year over year in March.
It is worth mentioning that unlike January, February-April is often the low season for mobile phone shipments in the Chinese market, so small increases can also be exchanged for considerable increases. Based on data from the first four months of this year, iPhone shipments in China are still falling from 18.2 million units to 15.1 million units.
IDC research shows that in the first quarter of this year, Apple's share of the Chinese smartphone market fell 6.6%, surpassed by Honor and Huawei.
Uncertainty still exists
In view of the aggressive discount campaign launched by Apple during the “618” e-commerce promotion in China this year, the discount for some high-end iPhones was able to reach 2,300 yuan, double the discount level in February of this year. So it's easy to guess that iPhone shipments will increase further in May this year.
The strategy of “exchanging discounts for growth” has also left uncertainty about subsequent developments. IDC analyst Will Wong explained that the increase in iPhone shipments reflects two things. First, Apple is preparing for the 618 shopping festival, but at the same time, high-end smartphone users are also showing signs of buying better devices to use for a longer period of time, which will also lead to longer phone switching cycles.
For Apple, WWDC during the Dragon Boat Festival (6/10) will be the next key point to determine iPhone sales trends. Apple users around the world are keeping a close eye on what AI features will be in the next iOS operating system.
Well-known electronics industry analyst Guo Mingyi previously predicted that global iPhone shipments may drop to around 200 million units this year. If Apple is unable to provide AIGC services that exceed market expectations this year, Nvidia's market value is likely to surpass Apple's.
Editor/Somer