Apple’s Head of Retail, Deirdre O’Brien, in Apple Sanlitun, Beijing
Apple’s iPhone shipments in 2024 will drop compared to 2023, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasts, with a significant decline caused in part by lower shipments to China.
The decline can be between 10% and 15% per half year of 2024, Kuo writes. Overall, this would amount to a total shipment count of 200 million units, which Kuo says would be down 15% year-on-year if proven true.
As to why the shipment count is dropping, Kuo proposes that it’s due to a shift towards smartphones with generative AI elements and foldable designs in the high-end market. Kuo also blames the return of Huawei in the Chinese market.
While Samsung has allegedly revised its shipment forecast for iPhone 15 models in the first half of 2024, Samsung has instead increased its Galaxy S24 shipments by between 5% and 10%. This is apparently because of a higher-than-expected demand for the range and its generative AI functionality.
