Will iPhone 15 sales be weighed down by China?

After the presentation of the seriesiPhone 15,we had reason to believe that it would sell very well. Indeed, Apple products are less exposed to macroeconomic problems. And in addition to having made a considerable effort on prices, the Cupertino company has also brought a lot of important new features to the Pro models and standard models.

However, according to Piper Sandler analysts, Apple's next quarterly results (not those it will present in a few days) could well be disappointing. If the quarter including the month of December is generally conducive to purchases, the investment bank estimates that Apple's global sales will be weighed down by its results in China.

Taking this into account, Piper Sandler has decided to lower its forecasts for Apple's future quarterly results.“All this, coupled with a difficult macroeconomic context, leads us to be slightly below our previous estimates, which were already slightly below consensus”, indicates Piper Sandler, cited by Investing.com. Furthermore, if Apple will see its iPhone sales increase in India, this increase would not be able to compensate for the declines in sales observed in China.

The Huawei threat is back

Recently, the analysis firm Counterpoint Research published its estimates for smartphone sales in China for the third quarter. And according to this data, Apple would have seen iPhone sales drop by 10%, year-over-year.

Ivan Lam, principal analyst at Counterpoint, explains:“iPhone sales declined as some demand for older models was met in the first and second quarters of 2023 due to earlier-than-expected price cuts by the chains, which were not offset by the official price adjustment. This situation was compounded by initial supply constraints experienced by the iPhone 15 series, which resulted in lower sales compared to the iPhone 14 series for the launch period.”

But while Apple sees its sales decline in China, Huawei confirms its comeback after the launch ofHuawei Mate 60(equipped with a 5G chip, despite American sanctions). In the third quarter, Huawei's sales increased 37% in China. And according to Counterpoint, the Mate 60 is so popular in China that Huawei is struggling to increase production to meet demand.