Apple’s China woes continue

Apple is facing continued challenges in China, one of its most critical markets, as the company’s Q124 sales in the greater China region in the December quarter fell nearly 13% YoY to $20.8 billion. (Of note: Q124 contained 13 weeks vs. Q123’s 14 weeks.)
Arjun Kharpal for CNBC:
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China was once seen as the major growth driver for the company but last year, cautious consumer sentiment combined with intense competition, in particular from a rejuvenated Huawei, posed a challenge to the Cupertino, California-based giant. And in 2024 it may not get any better.
“Two key factors were holding Apple back in 4Q23 — a more cautious and rational spending sentiment and the challenge from Huawei which created more buzz in the market than the new iPhone 15 series,” Will Wong, senior research manager at IDC, told CNBC.

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MacDailyNews Take: Again, Huawei’s overhyped claim to fame is the Mate 60 with a “Kirin 9000s” chip that’s generations behind Apple. The Kirin 9000s is a 7nm chip that has a Single-Core Score of 1267 and a Multi-Core Score of 3533 in Geekbench 6 benchmarks. Apple’s A17 Pro is a 3nm chip that has a Single-Core Score of 2902 and a Multi-Core Score of 7221 in Geekbench 6 benchmarks.
It’s not even close. It’s a 2019 Toyota Yaris vs. a 2023 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport sort of affair. It’d be a joke if it weren’t so sad.
Huawei’s flagship phone, the Mate 60, is trounced by Apple’s entry-level iPhone SE (third generation) which offers the 5nm A15 Bionic launched in September 2021 (Single-Core Score: 2237, Multi-Core Score: 5173 in Geekbench 6 benchmarks).
Plus, Huawei’s slow outmoded crap is hobbled with HarmonyOS (which is very likely in perfect “harmony” with Chinese Communist Party surveillance).

It is not just Huawei that is challenging Apple. Other domestic brands from Xiaomi to Oppo have been slowly pushing into the high-end market but at cheaper prices.

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MacDailyNews Take: Android phones are not “high-end.” Android phones are derivative, slow, cobbled together from off-the-rack parts; hodgepodges, and are insecure privacy, user-tracking nightmares. But, to be fair, that does sound very Chinese Communist Party through and through.

Last year, the Chinese economy faced a number of challenges from collapses in its property sector to weak consumer demand.
These challenges could continue into 2024 and affect consumer confidence.
And like many foreign technology firms operating in China, the specter of geopolitics constantly hangs over.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported last year that China has extended a ban ordering staff at government agencies and state-backed firms to stop bringing iPhones and other foreign devices to work.

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MacDailyNews Take: China is a problem. China has always been a problem. China will always be a problem.
Tim Cook, seemingly very high on hopium, thinks China is just swell*. That’s Apple’s biggest problem.
I remain very optimistic about China over the long term. – Apple CEO Tim Cook, February 1, 2024
*Or he’s lying, trying to fool China while he belatedly moves as much of Apple’s production out of China and into India, Vietnam, etc. as he can. Either way, Apple’s biggest problem is China and the CEO who painted the company into this corner.
See also: Tim Cook firmly latched Apple onto China’s CCP teat. What’s his plan for weaning it off? – November 2, 2022
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