Sales in China weakened by 13 percent in the last quarter of the year.
Device manufacturer Apple's October-December result that exceeded market expectations contained information that worries investors that the company is losing its positions in China, the news agency Bloomberg reports.
China brings about a fifth of Apple's sales, and the company has traditionally had a strong position in the Chinese consumer market.
Sales in China weakened by 13 percent in the last quarter. According to Bloomberg, this is the biggest decline since the 2018 holiday season.
Sales in China went against the trend of Apple's overall sales. Apple's sales increased in October–December for the first time in a year.
China's In recent months, the administration has tightened its stance on, for example, the use of foreign equipment at workplaces.
Local competitor Huawei released a new model that was advertised as an alternative to the iPhone.
The market changes prompted Apple to start a rare discount campaign in China, Bloomberg reports.
In China, Apple has suffered especially in sales of iPads and consumer technology devices such as smart watches.
China is Apple's third largest market. The majority of the company's equipment is also still manufactured there. It is also an important growth market of 1.4 billion people, whose growing middle class attracts device manufacturers.
Apple outlined at the analyst meeting held on Thursday that it still believes in China's absorption.
The device base is still growing and users are switching to newer models, Apple CEO Tim Cook said.
“I'm still very optimistic about China in the long term,” Cook said.
As a whole In October–December, Apple's sales were growing for the first time in several quarters.
The company's operating profit swelled to 33.9 billion dollars. The result increased by 13 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2022. The turnover increased by two percent from a year ago and was now 119.6 billion dollars.
Before the most recent quarter, the company's sales had decreased for four consecutive quarters, i.e. for a whole year.
According to CEO Cook, the revenue growth was boosted by iPhone sales and the all-time revenue record in the services sector. As for the company's smartphones, sales in October-December were 69.7 billion dollars and were somewhat higher than a year ago.
However, the company's result was disappointing for the market. The share went down almost three percent on the secondary market after the earnings release.
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