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Apple is losing market share in China due to declining iPhone shipments, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a report on Friday. The smallest stock dividend was 2.4%.
“Apple has been cautious when discussing iPhone 2025 production plans with key suppliers,” wrote Kuo, an analyst at TF Securities, in the newspaper. post. He said that despite the expected launch of the new iPhone SE 4, shipments are expected to decrease by 6% year over year for the first half of 2025.
Kuo expects Apple's market share to continue to slide, as two of the upcoming iPhones are so thin that they will likely only support eSIM, which the Chinese market does not currently encourage.
“Both of these models could face shipping movement challenges if their design is not changed,” he wrote.
Kuo wrote that in December, overall smartphone shipments in China were flat from a year earlier, but iPhone shipments fell 10% to 12%.
There is also no evidence that Apple Intelligence, the company's online tool artificial intelligence offers, drives hardware upgrades or services revenue, according to Kuo. He wrote that the feature “hasn't driven iPhone replacement demand,” according to a supply chain study he conducted, and said that the feature's appeal in his opinion “has declined significantly compared to AI services.” cloud-based, which has made rapid progress in the months since.”
Apple's iPhone estimates are around 220 million units for 2024 and between around 220 million and 225 million for this year, Kuo wrote. That's “below the market consensus of 240 million or more,” he wrote.
Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
