Apple’s sales in China fell by 6.5% to $14.7 billion: the company is losing ground in the market
The company has faced increased competition in the region, and the Chinese government has imposed restrictions on the use of foreign technology in certain work areas.
Apple’s sales in China fell 6.5% to $14.7 billion, missing Wall Street’s forecast of $15.3 billion. write Bloomberg. The results raised fears that Apple was losing ground in one of its most important overseas markets.
The company faces increased competition in the region, and the Chinese government has restricted the use of foreign technology in certain work environments.
Meanwhile, Apple predicts that new artificial intelligence features will drive iPhone upgrades in the coming months, helping the company overcome a slump in sales that has hit its China business particularly hard. CEO Tim Cook said that Apple’s upcoming Intelligence features will give customers a reason to buy new phones.
Apple returned to revenue growth with a 5% increase to $85.8 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $84.5 billion. The generally upbeat third-quarter results were overshadowed by sluggish sales in China.
The company attributed much of the decline to the impact of the strong dollar, noting that the underlying business in China is actually healthier than before. Three months ago, executives said the slowdown was not so much about the iPhone as it was about weak sales of other products.
“We understand that it’s a very competitive smartphone market, but we think that in the context of the broader economy, we’re thriving.” said CFO Luca Maestri.
Apple expects total sales to grow by about 5% this quarter. Wall Street predicts growth of 4%. The key point of this period will be services, which showed double-digit growth. The services business, which includes the App Store, Apple Music and the TV+ streaming platform, continues to be a growth driver. Last quarter, it brought in $24.2 billion in sales, up 14%.
Sales of Apple’s flagship product, the iPhone, totaled $39.3 billion. Although the figure was down slightly from last year, it beat Wall Street’s expectations.
Apple’s iPad business benefited from the long-awaited release of new models. Revenue increased by 24% to $7.16 billion.
The company also unveiled Apple Intelligence last quarter, showing off new AI tools at its developer conference in June. However, the technology, designed for iPhone, iPad and Mac, is not expected to be released to customers until October.
