The usual show, the usual superlatives – of course, when Apple introduced the latest iPhone, it was of the opinion that the iPhone 15 was the best it had ever developed. But buyers are no longer as easy to convince as they used to be. Smartphones used to make big sales leaps from one generation to the next. But these steps are getting smaller every year. But this is just one reason why Apple’s latest iPhone is apparently selling less well than expected.
Another reason is due to a competitor and a specific market: China. The Chinese manufacturer Huawei, severely slowed down by American sanctions, has achieved something that the company was not actually expected to do. In collaboration with a Chinese partner, the company developed its own radio chips for the 5G mobile network after the government in Washington banned the delivery of such chips from the USA. The fact that Huawei’s smartphone flagship Mate 60 Pro now has a 5G chip on board even brought the American security consultant to the fore.
Two things come together in China
However Huawei managed to do it, Chinese customers seem to appreciate it and apparently prefer to use the domestic product. The market researchers at Counterpoint estimate that the sales figures for the iPhone 15 on the Chinese market in the first 17 days after the start of sales are 4.5 percent lower than in the same period after the start of sales of the previous iPhone 14 model. Another analyst even expects a double-digit figure Decline in sales in China. After all: In the USA, Apple’s most important market before China, business with the new generation of iPhones is going well.
In China, on the other hand, two things are coming together: On the one hand, the country is still recovering from the downturn triggered by the pandemic. On the other hand, Apple is now also encountering resistance from the Chinese leadership. They banned government employees from using iPhones “for security reasons.” Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t hesitate for long and traveled to China, where Trade Minister Wang Wentao assured him that China would continue to welcome Apple.
Apple itself does not publish sales figures. In addition to the estimates from market research companies, the latest quarterly report from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) also suggests that things are currently not going well. TSMC is the largest chip manufacturer in the world and also produces the chips developed by Apple. The company recorded a significant decline in sales and attributed this to lower demand for consumer electronics products. Now Apple is not the only manufacturer of consumer electronics.
In general, there is a trend to use smartphones for longer than before. On the one hand for sustainability reasons, on the other hand – and probably more important in terms of numbers – because you don’t want to replace the expensive equipment after just one or two years. After all, newer smartphones are technically only small steps ahead of their predecessors, so many people save money on cell phones in view of inflation.