And not a quarterly boom and bust cycle for memory chip semiconductor companies, as we’ve seen through decades of tech waves. Specifically a few days ago on AI Ramblings Daily (ARD) podcast #108, I specifically underlined again that we would see dramatic drops in unit sales of computers, laptops and smartphones, especially by Asian vendors. That’s because that’s where a majority of that unit market comes from and resides in the ‘Global South’.
That now makes up over 85% of the world’s 8+ billion people, and over 40% of global GDP. Equal to the developed G7 countries in terms of share of global GDP.
So all this is important as we see the rising metrics of market share drops for the world’s Asian (read Chinese) smartphone makers.
“Huawei was only major brand with sales growth over month-long event, Counterpoint says”
“Apple ranked second after discounts on iPhone 17 Pro series”
“Brands limited incentives amid soaring global memory chip prices”
“Counterpoint projects China smartphone shipments to post double-digit decline this year”
“Smartphone sales in China fell 13% year-on-year during the month-long 618 shopping festival, as brands raised prices to offset higher memory costs, according to data from Counterpoint Research.”
The data, while over a short period, offers some dramatic drops in sales metrics.
“Sales declined from May 26 to June 21, with all major Chinese brands except Huawei posting double-digit drops as fewer promotions compared to last year weighed on demand. Honor sales dropped 33%, while Xiaomi’s (1810.HK), opens new tab fell 24%.”
“Higher memory prices amid a rapid build-out of AI infrastructure have pushed up handset costs this year, leaving brands with less room to offer steep discounts during the 618 festival, seen as a barometer for the country’s booming e-commerce sector.”
And a lot of shifting around in product portfolios of the companies in question.
“Some older and newer models from Chinese smartphone brands were priced higher than comparable models a year earlier, while discounts during this year’s 618 festival were generally less aggressive, both in terms of the size of price cuts and the range of products covered,” said Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.”
“Apple’s prices were broadly unchanged, but its discounts were also smaller.”
“Huawei Technologies [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL] led the market with a 21% share, and was the only major brand to record year-on-year growth during the 618 period, with sales rising 19%.”
“Its Enjoy 90 Pro Max was its best-selling model. The Mate 80 also performed well, supported by promotions.”
Apple wasn’t unscathed of course. But did better on a relative basis.
“Apple’s sales fell 9% from a year earlier, although the U.S. tech giant climbed to the No. 2 spot after rolling out incentives about a month ahead of June 18.”
“The discounts offered savings of up to 2,000 yuan ($295) on the iPhone 17 Pro series through a mix of official price cuts, platform subsidies and trade-in deals.”
“Still, Apple’s sales remained lower than a year earlier, partly because promotions for the iPhone 16 series were more aggressive during the same period last year.”
“The 618 festival, which began as a one-day event marking JD.com’s founding on June 18, 1998, has since grown into a month-long sales campaign, with major e-commerce platforms competing for consumer spending.”
The whole piece is worth a read on the full scale of the diminishing metrics.
These metrics are just the beginning. Not just in the smartphone space, but soon will be seen in computers, laptops, and all manner of electronic gadgets worldwide. All manner of local compute growth, which is critical for the AI ‘mainframe’ to local computing barbell I’ve long discussed.
Apple continues to enjoy relative advantages, but is not immune overall.
And we’ll of course keep track of it all this AI Tech Wave for the quarters ahead. Until it abates and/or turns. Stay tuned.
(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here)
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