iPhone Shipments Crash 50% in China as Local Brands Dominate

[Mousse]

This is such a tired trope…

Look, I am not denying that there is/was and probably always will be IP theft.

But! The implication always ends up being that China cannot innovate and all they do is steal the US's great ideas.

It's not hard when American companies are giving the Chinese the detailed blueprints to manufacture the products. People should stop acting like China has industrial spies/moles in US companies. These US companies are giving China all they need on a silver platter; all to save a few bucks.

 

[thebeans]

That’s what happens when your main “innovation” consists of emojis, artificial “diversity” moves and a slightly better camera.
Time for Musk as Apple’s CEO.

F$&@ Muskrat

 

[ksec]

Apple lowering price in China is basically every other market subsidising Chinese iPhone in other for Apple to maintains its margin.

Not to mention Chinese Android are INSANELY competitive. I remember Steve Jobs said when he was at NeXT talking about Apple. Apple got Greedy, when they have enough money and cash, instead of focusing of market share, they focuses on margin.

 

[Warfie]

I’m pretty sure Blackrock owns like half your country’s infrastructure, but sure you go boycott Jack Daniels and cancel your trip to Florida, that’ll put the “evil yanks” in their place. Lmao

Ask the same question to Musk.

 

[foobarbaz]

Note that it's "crashing". So it's not lack of innovation, high prices, or sudden lack of understanding of the Chinese market. It's a very sudden change.

And we all know what things changed recently.

 

[CaféPicasso]

Apart from technical and financial reasons for this don't underestimate how unattractive the U.S. has become for a lot of people. I know people who cancelled their U.S. business (!) trips or changed their holiday plans. People boycotting all things american. Tim Cooks donation to Trump didn't help. I'm not saying that this is a good thing to do. I have friends is the U.S., visited a lot of times. But if you regard the U.S.A. as a brand- it has completely lost it's sexiness. It's seen as dumb and dangerous. Sadly.

 

[poofdadz]

Maybe Tim shouldn't have donated to you know who's inauguration. The whole "Don't Buy American" thing is getting traction now in other countries. American bourbon in Canada and Europe and now iPhones in China.

Wow, American bourbon in Canada. The United States is doomed!!!!!

 

[MacLoveMacHate]

I wonder how much intellectual property theft is incorporated into the local Chinese brands?

At this point, Apple's trying to keep up with their camera tech

 

[big_papa_johnny]

Ask the same question to Musk.

Yeah it’s totally a huge global boycott of evil orange man’s sidekick and has nothing to do with the fact that Tesla factories were being retooled and therefore not producing any cars.

 

[I7guy]

I hope this can serve as a wake up call to Apple’s BoD. With Apple’s fumbling of AI, Siri, Vision Pro, buggy software, lackluster sales of iPhone 16/16 Pro, Apple Watch, etc. alongside Cook’s excuses for the drop in sales, I think Tim needs to go. I dont even he’s such a great bean-counter anymore. The much broader issue is Apple’s products aren’t the MUST own devices anymore (like they once were). They aren’t see as innovative as they used to be. When they try to be, they fall flat on their face. iPhone Air? This is sure to be disappointing. They can do so much better.

It’s only a wake up call if unexpected. If expected plans can be made. Apple doesn’t throw the baby away with the bath water, so I doubt there will be anything punitive.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Yeah it’s totally a huge global boycott of evil orange man’s sidekick and has nothing to do with the fact that Tesla factories were being retooled and therefore not producing any cars.

You're right, it has nothing to do with the retooling as Tesla has unsold inventory sitting on lots.

Wife got of her Model 3 before Musk's most recent nonsense and won't buy again, with or without Trump. She even campaigned (ran for state office) to have a Tesla battery plant brought to our state.

Tesla Inventory Shows Sales Drop Not Just About Model Y Production Retooling - CleanTechnica

Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and/or follow us on Google News! I started covering a potential drop in Tesla’s sales about a year and a half ago. That’s when Tesla started really...

cleantechnica.com

 

[big_papa_johnny]

You're right, it has nothing to do with the retooling as Tesla has unsold inventory sitting on lots.

Damn that’s crazy, it’s not like logistics takes some time to catch up after a months-long retooling or anything.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Damn that’s crazy, it’s not like logistics takes some time to catch up after a months-long retooling or anything.

No idea why you refuse to accept that Musk has made a lot of people around the world, and in the US, mad, and they don't want to buy his products anymore or support his companies.

Whatever dude. Have a good day.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yeah it’s totally a huge global boycott of evil orange man’s sidekick and has nothing to do with the fact that Tesla factories were being retooled and therefore not producing any cars.

There's always an excuse in Tesla stan land

 

[Danlez96]

Chinese phones are becoming better and in many cases they’re objectively better in some aspects than the IPhone (and cheaper) I don’t know why this causes distress for some people, it’s ok if you like iPhones but it’s been a while since apple was cutting edge and innovative, now it’s just the same phone every year with 10% more performance and some tricks on the camera. Of course people would start looking for alternatives, and if they have much better hardware and are cheaper then its just natural to change.

 

[MarcK73]

The tech is there in those chinese phones, but are there any good apps on Android that will be worth to make the switch? I doubt it

WeChat runs on Android just as well as iOS and that's the only app that matters in China.

 

[mjs916]

This is such a tired trope…

Look, I am not denying that there is/was and probably always will be IP theft.

But! The implication always ends up being that China cannot innovate and all they do is steal the US's great ideas.

Just do yourselves a favour and go to Beijing or Shanghai or any of the cities in China and be astonished by the innovation. No really, try it. You may find your head spinning and wishing some of that would come over to where you are.


100% Agree.

They said they wonder. The answer could be zero but the replies are if they stated a fact with 100% as the answer.

 

[cocky jeremy]

I wonder how much intellectual property theft is incorporated into the local Chinese brands?

Yes.

 

[iPadified]

Damn that’s crazy, it’s not like logistics takes some time to catch up after a months-long retooling or anything.

All reports suggest huge drops in demand of Tesla in Europe (50+%). China and USA shows less drops but the total BEV market is growing with two digits numbers. Tesla is mismanaged with effectively 2 models (Y and 3) where others have 4-10 models. Totally relying of MY for sales success is dangerous and itself a catastrophic decision. The rest of the world has caught up. Apples reliance on iPhone has always been equally problematic and others have caught up or surpassed Apple as well. Now add the aggressive politics and rhetorics and people are pushed elsewhere. Long time since anyone slept in the streets for new iPhone.

 

[lewchenko]

I expect the phones from those Chinese brands mentioned have way better specs than what Apple is selling these days for the same price as a 16E! And probably a better overall experience too software wise if you live in China.
Anti western sentiment also helps!
Only the US has such a high iPhone market share. Much less everywhere else I believe. Europe especially.

 

[Dwalls90]

Sure - as if every non-US citizen out there were anti-Trump - quite the opposite, actually.

It's amazing how left-leaning and woke-rabid the MacRumors audience has become over the last years - it's almost like a Mac-centric version of the Guardian or MSNBC.

It's pretty straightforward that if a president is trying to take over another country or tariff another country, that will not be well received by citizens of said other country. I'm well aware leaders of authoritative countries are in favor of Trump, though I'm not sure that's something to be bragged about.

 

[svish]

Apple will be hoping to increase sales with the upcoming iPhone 17 models. If the base models do get 120Hz, it should help. However if there is a price hike then the situation will remain the same. Will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[citysnaps]

Chinese citizens are actively steered away from buying "foreign" tech these days. So it's no wonder iPhone sales have tanked.

Indeed... And strongly "encouraged" by the Chinese government to purchase Chinese mobile phones. And if you work for the Chinese government it is mandated.

As a result, it's no surprise that iPhone sales are sliding in China. That was predicted more than a year ago in light of Chinese government new policies.

 

[big_papa_johnny]

All reports suggest huge drops in demand of Tesla in Europe (50+%).

Interesting that the drastic drop in demand coincides perfectly with the period when they were retooling and not producing any cars.

Apples reliance on iPhone has always been equally problematic and others have caught up or surpassed Apple as well.

Surpassed in what way? Apple still has the biggest share of the global smartphone market by far and is the biggest company in the sector by revenue.

 

[citysnaps]

Interesting that the drastic drop in demand coincides perfectly with the period when they were retooling and not producing any cars.


Surpassed in what way? Apple still has the biggest share of the global smartphone market by far and is the biggest company in the sector by revenue.

And reflects Apple manufacturing and selling 600,000+ iPhones per day, every day of the year (on the average).