Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits China Amid Reports of Lower iPhone 15 Sales

[MacRumors]

Apple CEO Tim Cook has made a surprise visit to China amid reports that iPhone 15 sales are down in the country compared to last year's iPhone 14 models (via Bloomberg).

Cook visited an Apple's Taikoo Li store in Chengdu to watch a local gaming tournament for the major Tencent game "Honor of Kings" and talk to shoppers and staff. Cook later posted about the event on Weibo with a short video, saying that "the energy tonight was off the charts!" Cook then visited a Yucheng elementary school to see how students use the iPad to support local culture.

The appearance comes just a day after two Counterpoint Research studies claimed that iPhone 15 sales are down 4.5% versus last year's iPhone 14 lineup in China, causing Apple's share price to fall. As a result, Cook's visit is being widely associated with concern about iPhone 15 sales in China across various mainstream media outlets.

Cook's posts on Weibo during the trip have also aroused a usual amount of ire. For example, Cook shared a photo of Chengdu at night shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The post was then "flooded with complaints" about the ostensibly poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro.

Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits China Amid Reports of Lower iPhone 15 Sales

 

[tomtad]

Reality is this is only going to continue as the Chinese phone makers continue to improve.

 

[StuBeck]

I'm missing the connection between a trip and sales going down. Is it assumed that his "celebrity" will help increase sales? Surely market research could be done by locals better than the CEO coming into a small part of the country too.

 

[neuropsychguy]

"The post was then 'flooded with complaints' about the poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro."

Have to love those state-sponsored bot accounts and/or nationalists who don't like "Western" companies and/or people/bots who don't like Apple. It's like the commenters who come to MR to complain about how terrible Apple products are because apparently there’s nothing better to do.

This isn’t to say the Mate 60 Pro has a worse camera (it’s supposed to be quite good), but people complaining that the 15 Pro Max has a terrible camera are not doing so from an objective perspective. This means they are likely falling into one of the groups I mentioned.

 

[icanhazmac]

Cook's posts on Weibo during the trip have also aroused a usual amount of ire. For example, Cook shared a photo of Chengdu at night shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The post was then "flooded with complaints" about the poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro.

LOL, color me shocked! I bet Pooh Bear couldn't issue that order fast enough.

The Huawei's could have a camera that is 10 times better than any other, I still wouldn't buy it.

 

[3530025]

"The post was then 'flooded with complaints' about the poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro."

Have to love those state-sponsored bot accounts.

Yep, because no phone can take better pictures than iPhone...

Wait what? Huawei P60 Pro is actually above iPhone 15 Pro Max https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/ - shocker

 

[nicho]

Is it just me, or is this picture a bit trippy - he's clearly stood in front of the image of the iPhone, but it looks like Tim's head is actually displayed on the screen and at a different angle to the rest of his body.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

"The post was then 'flooded with complaints' about the poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro."

Have to love those state-sponsored bot accounts.

I'm missing the connection between a trip and sales going down. Is it assumed that his "celebrity" will help increase sales? Surely market research could be done by locals better than the CEO coming into a small part of the country too.

The whole focus of the media is fabricating FUD(mainly fear) and conflict. This is the sole driver of their product sales so they must do this. Always remember that.

 

[tweaknmod]

I'm missing the connection between a trip and sales going down. Is it assumed that his "celebrity" will help increase sales? Surely market research could be done by locals better than the CEO coming into a small part of the country too.

Correlation does not equal causation.

 

[SpotOnT]

The Huawei P60 Pro actually has a pretty nice camera, so that isn’t too surprising.

Anyway, competition is good. There is no reason for a single company to dominate the global phone market. Besides, Apple can sell half as many iPhones globally as it does today and still be a successful company (I mean stockholders won’t be happy, but at the same time how many companies would kill to have half the phone market Apple has).

 

[karranz]

I have a beautiful red iPhone 13 that I’m not willing to change for a boring looking iPhone or heavy and ugly pro. Needless to say that +1200 euro is ridiculous when you can get excellent phones in 2023 with 500 euro.

 

[tridley68]

Of course this is happening they are taking our technology product and copying it and selling it as their own.

 

[contacos]

What he going to do? Ask China to force its citizens to buy an iPhone or loose social points? 😅

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Yep, because no phone can take better pictures than iPhone...

Wait what? Huawei P60 Pro is actually above iPhone 15 Pro Max https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/ - shocker

One phone, barely. Now go check the Selfie ranking. Apple and Huawei is nowhere near.

 

[Abazigal]

Reports which I am sure are false, seeing how Apple reported there being more switchers in China in their last earnings report.

 

[syklee26]

Apple has taken for granted that Chinese will buy iPhones no matter what.

It has been around 15 years (?) that Jobs has passed away and Apple’s image as market innovator has slowly faded away. To Chinese eyes, they can either pay enormous sum for iPhone and get admonished by their communist regime or buy much cheaper Chinese phones which can function about 80-90% of iPhone. Combine that with sluggish Chinese economy, the result is obvious.

Apple has no sense of urgency, and that started after Jobs passed. Apple was unmatched when Jobs was alive, yet they kept innovating. Under Cook, not so much.

If Cook fails with Vision Pro and Apple Car, his time will come to an end.

 

[Mac_The_Ripper]

Tim Cook wants to save the planet and have peace on earth...in other news, Tim Cook visits China (the pillar of environmentalism and human rights) where he sold his soul to the highest bidder.

 

[JPack]

Huawei Mate 60 Pro offers satellite voice calling and satellite SMS features due to Kirin modem. 5.5G speeds are faster. Display is larger. It’s less expensive than iPhone 15 Pro Max.

If you’re a consumer with a choice, it’s a legit competitive product.

 

[SpotOnT]

Of course this is happening they are taking our technology product and copying it and selling it as their own.

Huawei is actually diverging more and more from being just another Apple clone (just as Samsung has started diverging over time). The whole not having access to American chips is bringing about pretty fast actually.

 

[McWetty]

I’m all in on iPhone, but I gotta say there have been major improvements in the cameras on the competition. Pixel 8 Pro (I think that’s the name) is impressive. And the other manufacturers are catching up quickly. Give credit where it’s due.

I’ll never go Android because I enjoy the Apple ecosystem, but I’m thankful for the competition other companies are bringing. Hope to see Apple step it up.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Barrons had a headline the other day in Apple News which was “Meta and Amazon blow past Apple and leave it in the dust” something like that and I wrote to the journalist and said “this headline and article looks like it’s written by a preteen, what happened to Barrons? Why this ridiculous faulty sensationalized headline?” and she stated quite honestly “well the Editors tweek the headlines and the articles and those type of headlines get the clicks and pay the bills” I thanked her for her honesty.

 

[Bustycat]

Huawei supporters are regarded as patriots in mainland China. No matter how expensive Mate 60 Pro, it remains the first choice of those "patriots". Videos on Bilibili talking about the negatives or internal details of Mate 60 Pro are removed by the government (this is proved by Geekerwan).

 

[Spidder]

Heres the photo TC uploaded to Weibo. Its bad, but not because of the 15PM camera, but because of compression/resizing.

 

[karranz]

Apple has taken for granted that Chinese will buy iPhones no matter what.

It has been around 15 years (?) that Jobs has passed away and Apple’s image as market innovator has slowly faded away. To Chinese eyes, they can either pay enormous sum for iPhone and get admonished by their communist regime or buy much cheaper Chinese phones which can function about 80-90% of iPhone. Combine that with sluggish Chinese economy, the result is obvious.

Apple has no sense of urgency, and that started after Jobs passed. Apple was unmatched when Jobs was alive, yet they kept innovating. Under Cook, not so much.

If Cook fails with Vision Pro and Apple Car, his time will come to an end.

Good point, he has managed well the Apple car fail, let’s see what happens with vision pro, if he can pull that out it will be an indicator Apple still has the Steve & Co. dna hidden somewhere.

 

[citysnaps]

Oh noes... Apple is doomed. Again, again, again, and again....

A real knee slapper.