Chinese consumers bought fewer iPhone 14 handsets in the early days of its availability than the product’s predecessor a year ago, Jefferies said in a note on Monday.
Sales of Apple Inc’s latest smartphone series in the first three days of delivery came to 987,000 units, 11% lower than comparable sales of the iPhone 13 family last year, analysts including Edison Lee wrote in the note.
It’s a rare double-digit decline for the iPhone, whose sales had been the most resilient in a Chinese smartphone market that’s seen its domestic leaders slump all year.
"These initial data suggested iPhone 14’s sales may not be as strong as the pre-order levels indicated, since pre-order does not come with any payment obligations,” it said.
Smartphone shipments in China fell by almost a third to 19.1 million in July, national data showed earlier this month, adding to a year of dwindling sales in the world’s largest mobile market.
The Chinese consumer economy has had a stuttering year affected by stringent Covid containment policies and weak economic performance.
Apple’s effort to diversify its supply chain got a boost Monday with the announcement that it’s begun assembling iPhone 14 devices in India. It’s the fastest turnaround yet from release to India manufacturing by the Cupertino, California-based company. – Bloomberg
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