iPhone shipments in China see another double-digit decline, fall by over 35 percent: Report

Apple Inc’s iPhone shipments in China fell more than 35 percent in November, marking their second straight double-digit decline as sales of the cheaper iPhone 11 remained sluggish, brokerage Credit Suisse said on Thursday.

Shares of the company fell more than 1 percent to 267.67 in early trading.

Total iPhone shipments in China in the September-November period dropped 7.4 percent from a year earlier, Credit Suisse analyst Matthew Cabral said, citing data from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The latest iPhone 11 range hit stores in China in September, with short queues of die-hard fans contrasting with the hundreds who camped out ahead of some previous launches.

Cabral also wrote that Apple would have a tough time pushing through tariff-related price increases to US consumers if the 15 percent tariffs on billions in Chinese-made consumer goods come into effect on 15 December.

Apple has asked the Trump administration to waive levies on China-made Apple Watches, iPhone components and other consumer products. President Donald Trump said last month he was considering the request.

Apple’s market share in China slipped to 5 percent from 7 percent in the third quarter, while Huawei Technologies Co Ltd captured a record 42 percent of China’s smartphone market in the same period, according to a report by market research firm Canalys released in October.

In its latest fourth quarter, Apple reported a 2.4 percent drop in greater China sales.