China may be souring on Apple.
A Wall Street analyst said Thursday that shipments of iPhones in China fell more than 35 percent last month — their second straight month of double-digit declines as the new iPhone 11 failed to excite Chinese shoppers.
Apple’s share of the Chinese smartphone market slipped to 5 percent from 7 percent last month as it struggled to compete with Chinese juggernaut Huawei, which captured 42 percent of its local market last month, according to a Thursday report by Credit Suisse.
The bank blamed the year-over-year drop on intense competition from Chinese smartphone makers, whose phones have for years now featured 5G technology — something Apple has yet to introduce — at similar or lower prices.
To be fair, the earlier release of this year’s iPhone also hit November sales, as demand peaked in early October this year instead of late October and early November last year, according to Credit Suisse.
Nevertheless, the iPhone 11’s September debut in China was met with short queues of die-hard fans, contrasting sharply with the hundreds who camped out ahead of some previous launches.
Total iPhone shipments in China for the period between September and November were down 7.4 percent from the same period in 2018, according to Credit Suisse’s Matthew Cabral, citing data from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Cabral also wrote that Apple would have a tough time pushing through tariff-related price increases to American consumers if the 15 percent tariffs on billions in Chinese-made consumer goods come into effect on Dec. 15.
The analyst’s report knocked Apple shares down 0.5 percent in afternoon trading, to $269.41.
Apple has asked the Trump administration to waive levies on China-made Apple Watches, iPhone components and other consumer products. President Donald Trump said last month he was considering the request.
An Apple spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ref;nypost.com