Apple’s IPhones Off to Disappointing Start in China

Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 15 is selling far worse in China than its predecessor, according to separate analyses, reflecting stubbornly weak consumption as well as the rise of rivals like Huawei Technologies Co.

Sales of Apple’s flagship device are down 4.5% compared with the iPhone 14 over their first 17 days after release, market tracker Counterpoint Research estimated in previously unreported figures provided to Bloomberg News. Jefferies analysts led by Edison Lee reckoned sales of the iPhone 15 were down by an even sharper double-digit percentage from its predecessor after Huawei outsold Apple overall, powered by the surprising debut of the Mate 60 Pro.

The twin reports mark a potential blow to Apple at a time it’s grappling with the weakest smartphone demand in a decade and a backlash from overheating models. If the initial estimates are accurate, they represent one of the iPhone’s worst debuts in China since around 2018, when local names like Oppo and Vivo began to captivate Asian consumers.

Counterpoint blamed the iPhone’s slump in China mainly on an economy struggling to rebound from its Covid trough. And it stressed that in the US, the iPhone 15 likely posted a double-digit rise over 2022 in the first nine days of sales.

But the iPhone’s debut in China came weeks after the launch of the Mate 60 Pro, celebrated as a triumph over US sanctions because of its advanced made-in-China processor. It also coincided with a government mandate to expand a ban on iPhone use to government agencies and state companies, underscoring Apple’s growing challenges there.