Apple Faces Sales Drop While Chinese Smartphone Makers Surge

During China's recent Singles Day shopping festival, Apple Inc (AAPL:US) experienced a decline in smartphone sales, as indicated by data from Counterpoint Research. In contrast, domestic competitors Huawei and Xiaomi reported significant increases in sales.

The pricing structure plays a role in this dynamic, with Apple's latest iPhone 15 model starting at 5,999 yuan ($832), Huawei's Mate 60 at 5,499 yuan ($763), and Xiaomi's Mi 14 at 3,999 yuan ($555).

Counterpoint Research reported a 4% year-on-year decrease in the number of Apple smartphones sold during the two-week sales period from Oct. 30 to Nov. 12. In contrast, Huawei and Xiaomi saw a 66% and 28% year-on-year growth in units sold during the same period, contributing to a 5% overall increase in Chinese smartphone sales.

Xiaomi reported a cumulative gross merchandise value of over 22.4 billion yuan during the Singles Day shopping festival.

Although China's e-commerce platforms like Alibaba (BABA:US) and JD.com (JD:US) did not disclose specific sales figures for the Singles Day festival, JD.com mentioned that the transaction volume value of Apple products on its platform exceeded 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion) during the event.

Industry analysts anticipate a rebound in the Chinese smartphone market, with research firm IDC expecting year-on-year sales growth in the fourth quarter after ten consecutive quarters of declining shipments. Ivan Lam, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, noted that Apple's situation is improving compared to the previous month, but supply-related challenges persist, expecting the situation to normalize soon.

On the U.S. Front, Apple stock is up nearly 53% year to date, Congressman Josh Gottheimer recently invested up to 15,000 on October 30, when the stock was trading at $170.29 per share. Notably, since his trade, Apple stock is up more than 12% in value.