China is Apple’s ‘most competitive market’, says CEO Tim Cook after biggest iPhone sales drop in nearly 4 years
- Global iPhone revenue fell 10 per cent in the first quarter, another sign of the competition Apple faces in China, the world’s largest smartphone market
- Cook said that despite quarterly fluctuations, “over the long haul, I have a very positive viewpoint” on China
Revenue from iPhones, Apple’s bread-and-butter business, fell 10 per cent from a year ago to US$45.7 billion in the three months through March, according to the company’s latest earning report. In Greater China, a critical iPhone market that includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, sales fell 8 per cent to US$16.4 billion in the same period.
“I don’t know how each and every quarter goes and each and every week,” Cook said. “But over the long haul, I have a very positive viewpoint.”
Apple’s iPhone sales in China plunge as Huawei reaches for the top
It ranked third for the quarter with 15.7 per cent of the domestic market, behind Dongguan-based Vivo and Huawei spin-off Honor, which held 17.4 per cent and 16.1 per cent, respectively.
US-sanctioned Huawei showed strong performance in the first quarter, with a net profit of 19.6 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion), up 564 per cent from a year ago, according to the company’s latest earnings results.
“We believe in the transformative power and promise of AI, and we believe we have advantages that will differentiate us in this new era,” Cook said.