Entering China
On January 20, the mobile phone national subsidy was officially launched. At present, most of the main models of Apple’s mobile phones can enjoy state subsidies, including iPhone15, iPhone16, etc. Some consumers placed an order for an iPhone16 with 256G memory through the national subsidy, and the price was 5499 yuan. Compared with the U.S. market, the iPhone16 after the national subsidy is the lowest price in the world, becoming Apple’s most “fragrant” model.
In addition, some netizens found that the iPhone13 128G version only costs 2999 yuan after the national subsidy, which is a historical low price. According to estimates, driven by the national subsidy policy, the domestic sales of mobile phones are expected to reach 300 million units this year.
According to Counterpoint Research, an independent research firm, iPhone sales in China have been upset by the incentivized competition of domestic manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi: Apple’s sales fell 18.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year, which is a major setback for the company in the Chinese market.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the iPhone was still the best-selling phone in China, but a year later, Apple ceded the first position to Huawei. In the fourth quarter of last year, Apple slipped to third place in the Chinese market, behind Huawei and Xiaomi, with only about one-sixth of the market share.
The significant loss of market share in China led to a 5% year-on-year decline in global iPhone sales in the fourth quarter of last year, and a 1 percentage point decline in market share to 19% in the global market.
