No matter how great a company is, even the most successful product eventually matures and declines with the passage of time as rivals angle for a piece of the market your innovation created. A case in point is Apple’s iPhone,

In China, Apple’s second largest market, iPhone sales fell 18% in the December ending quarter, according to Bloomberg.

Apple's iPhone sales in China reportedly took a tumble at the end of 2024, with a considerable reduction in sales putting it in a dead heat with homegrown Xiaomi.

Sales of Apple Inc. iPhones dived 18.2% in China during the December quarter, according to independent research, a major setback for the company in its biggest market after the US.

Apple lost the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market after a domestic brand replaced the iPhone as the country's top choice.

According to Counterpoint Research, Apple was unable to gain market share in China with the iPhone 16. This helps local manufacturers.

Apple ( NASDAQ:AAPL) is feeling the heat in China. iPhone sales slid 18.2% in Q4 2024, dropping its market share to 17.1%, down from 20.2% a year ago. Meanwhile, Huawei is back on top for the first time since U.S. sanctions hit in 2019, grabbing an 18.1% share.

Phone growth in the U.S. and the rest of the world offsets softer sales in China, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives says.

Doug and Lee examined Apple's decreasing stock performance, pointing out as main causes of investor unhappiness dismal iPhone 16 sales in China, AI losses, and criticism about the company's lack of recent innovation.