AAPL: Apple Stock Sheds 4% After Report Says Company Lost Top Spot in China

Shipments of the company’s flagship product — iPhone — fell 17% in China last year to 42.9 million, ranking the company third on the list.

😫 iPhone Sales Slump in China

• Apple stock AAPL fell 4% Thursday, logging its worst single-day performance since August after a slamming report. Canalys, a market data research firm, said that Apple has lost the number one spot as China’s leading smartphone vendor.
• Apple shipped 15% of all 284 million phones sold in China in 2024. That figure was down 17% on an annualized basis and amounted to about 42.9 million iPhones. That’s how the apple falls from the tree.

🥇 Vivo Leads 2024 with ~50M Sales

• The showing (or lack thereof) kicked Apple to third place in market share, Canalys said. Who’s holding the top spot now? Chinese manufacturer Vivo dethroned the iPhone maker with a 17% share last year, or about 50 million units. Second in the ranking is Huawei with 46 million smartphones shipped.
• The good news, however, is that Apple retained the crown for the fourth quarter, selling 13.1 million units (holiday shopping is traditionally a strong period for Apple). That figure was down by 25% year on year, indicating that competition isn’t sitting idle.

🤓 Apple Intelligence Not a Factor Yet

• A few words on Apple Intelligence — the iPhone’s secret sauce expected to bump up sales. Well, this isn’t yet a reality in China and that’s partially why sales have flunked. Apple Intelligence isn’t available on smartphones purchased in mainland China due to regulatory hurdles.
• And finally, share price. Shares of Apple are down roughly 12% from their peak in December, just when the tech juggernaut was hyperventilating at the prospects of locking in the $4 trillion milestone.