Recent research shows Chinese consumers are showing lesser interest in Apple's iPhone, indicating more trouble for the Cupertino tech giant. Read on for more details.
According to research conducted by Longbow Research, the number of searches for the Apple iPhone on Chinese internet search engine Baidu dropped by 48 percent, CNBC reported.
Longbow research said this isn't the first time the iPhone had a low search rate in the Chinese search engine. This is actually the fifth month where "iPhone" had few searches. It was much worse in January, where the number of searches dropped by 50 percent.
A drop in iPhone searches indicate a drop in iPhone demand, Longbow said. The drop in searches appear to be correlated with the drop in year-on-year iPhone sales. The drop in searches also correlate to the number of iPhone units being shipped into China to be sold in the Chinese market.
Price cuts didn't work
In a research note, Longbow analyst Shawn Harrison said multiple price cuts weren't enough to help turn the tide for the iPhone. The massive discounts were unable to spark enough interest to generate an increase in online iPhone searches, much less purchases.
The more Chinese consumers lose interest over the iPhone, the fewer the iPhones that will be sold in the Chinese market. iPhone sales have been decelerating for years now, and some have said that present-day sales figures are the worst. Harrison said 37 out of 42 Apple suppliers reported terrible sales figures in February.
Unless the demand for the iPhone goes up, Harrison explains, Apple won't be making iPhone sales leading to a lack of significant profits. Furthermore, he said a lack of iPhone sales would put the company at risk, Bloomberg reported.
The pressure is now for Apple to make it big in another area. Apple is said to introduce a new video programming service, and a premium magazine subscription plan, on March 25.
Not alone
Data coming from other sources reveal that Apple is not the only one suffering from dismal sales -- Xiaomi is facing some difficulty, too.
According to data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the total number of smartphones shipped into China in February fell by 20 percent compared to the previous year, CNBC reported.
Neil Shah, research director for Counterpoint Research, said Apple and Xiaomi are seen as the biggest losers for various reasons.
Consumers are reluctant to upgrade their expensive smartphones, thus opting not to buy iPhones. Also they tend to go for mid-range offerings from brands such as Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo, bypassing low-tier offerings from Xiaomi - which leads to poor sales.
