Apple Inc is facing downtrend for its iPhone shipments in China which declined by more than 35% in November, making it Apple’s double-digit fall for the second time in a row largely because of the lower sales of its cheaper iPhone 11, as unveiled brokerage firm Credit Suisse.
iPhone maker’s total Chinese shipments in the September-November period remained 7.4% lower than that of the year earlier for the same period, said Matthew Cabral, an analyst at Credit Suisse, based on analysis of the data from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Apple started selling its latest iPhone 11 series in Chinese stores in September, but that new range of cheaper phones failed to attract more of the customers in China, where hundreds of die-hard fans of iPhones used to be camped out ahead of some previous iPhone launches.
In his analysis, Cabral also pointed out that the company could also be facing tougher time going through tariff-related issue in the United States if the 15% tariff on products made in China came into effect on December 15, which would toll the company with billions of dollars, with no option left but to ultimately be cascaded down impact of the same to consumers in shape of increased phone prices.
To get itself out of impact of those levies, Apple requested Trump administration to waive off taxes on import of China-made iPhone components, Apple Watches and other of its consumer products, to which President Donald Trump last month said that he was considering the Apple’s request.
In China’s smartphone market, Apple’s share dropped by 2% in the third quarter which came down to 5% from previous market share of 7%, while Huawei Technologies Co Ltd succeeded to hold record 42% of the market share in the same period, as quoted market research firm Canalys in a report released in October.
