SOURCE / COMPANIES
Sales of iPhone 14 in China down 11%: report
Published: Sep 27, 2022 12:52 AM
The photo taken on September 18, 2022 shows customers at an Apple store in Yichang, Hubei Province. Photo: VCG

The photo taken on September 18, 2022 shows customers at an Apple store in Yichang, Hubei Province. Photo: VCG


Leading investment bank Jefferies Group said in a report on Monday that sales of Apple Inc's iPhone 14 series in China declined by double digits in the early days of the phone's launch, compared with the previous generation iPhone 13 series a year ago, media outlet tech.ifeng.com reported.

Edison Lee, an analyst from the investment bank, said in the report that sales of the iPhone 14 reached 987,000 units in China in the first three days before delivery, down 11 percent from sales of the iPhone 13 series last year.

This is a rare double-digit percentage drop for the iPhone, the report said, as sales of the handsets have been the most resilient in the Chinese smartphone market.

"The preliminary figures indicated that sales of the iPhone 14 may not be as strong as indicated by pre-orders, which do not come with any payment obligations," the report said.

A week after Apple launched its new products, comments from Chinese consumers on the new phones were mixed, with the "iPhone 14 may become the worst-selling model ever" topping the search list on China's Twitter-like social platform Sina Weibo on Monday.

"Based on our current research, the standard iPhone 14 model has had a less favorable sales performance than that for Pro models, with the Pro Max being the most well-received of the series among Chinese consumers," Will Wong, a Singapore-based analyst at IDC, said in a report by South China Morning Post.

According to mydrivers.com, affected by the less-than-expected sales of iPhone 14, Apple supplier Foxconn in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, dismantled part of the iPhone 14 production line. The insiders revealed that some iPhone 14 production lines were upgraded to produce iPhone 14 Pro series models.

After the switch of the production line, iPhone 14 Pro models and iPhone 14 Pro Max models are expected to account for 60 to 65 percent of total shipments for the iPhone 14 series in the second half of 2022, up from a previous estimate of 55 to 60 percent.

Some analysts said that the iPhone 14 has no innovation and the difference with the previous two generations is relatively small.

A consumer surnamed Li told the Global Times on Monday that she preferred to buy the iPhone 14 Pro model due to its innovation of Dynamic Island, which displays various types of information and controls to users.

Another consumer surnamed Yao in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, said that he will purchase the iPhone 13 due to its cheaper price and similar functions to the iPhone 14.