Giant tech company Apple is set to open its first store in Malaysia next month, amid ongoing expansion in the Asian continent, as competition in its top market, China, intensifies.
The company disclosed that the store will be located at The Exchange TRX mall in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Apple’s ongoing expansion in Asia is coming as the company has lost its dominance and market share in China, one of its major markets. The Cupertino giant shipments to China fell by 33% in February, after local manufacturer Huawei assumed more market share in the nation. Also, the sales in the last quarter which ended in December 2023, fell nearly 13% to $20.8 billion.
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In 2024, data showed that sales of iPhone in China fell by 19.1% in the first three months of the year, as Huawei saw a resurgence in its smartphone business. The Chinese multinational digital technology company recorded a whopping 69.7% of sales in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.
China was once seen as the major growth driver for Apple, but lately, cautious consumer sentiment combined with intense competition, from Huawei has posed a challenge to the Cupertino giant.
Reports reveal that Chinese consumers have been slow to embrace Apple’s new iPhone 15, with both Apple and third-party resellers offering discounts just a few months after the model’s release. Analysts reveal that consumers feel fine holding on to the older-generation iPhones for now.
Will Wong, senior research manager at IDC several key factors were holding Apple back in a more cautious and rational spending sentiment and the challenge from Huawei which created more buzz in the market than the new iPhone 15 series.
He further disclosed that there is no sign of positive growth in iPhone’s shipment growth in China this year, with Huawei expected to remain the key competitor while more advanced technologies like AI and foldable grabbing more attention from consumers.
Huawei which was once the world’s largest smartphone player, was the only major challenger to Apple in China in the high end of the market. The phone once lost its competitiveness due to the lack of 5G and no cutting-edge semiconductors, as customers flocked to iPhones.
The Chinese manufacturer later returned to the premium smartphone market with the Mate 60 Pro, a 5G smartphone featuring a homegrown processor. The smartphone is equipped with a stunning 6.82-inch OLED display, featuring the newly released HarmonyOS 4, highly acclaimed smart features such as artificial intelligence (AI) remote control, intelligent touch payment, and always-on display.
The resurgence of Huawei in the premium market is attracting back the Huawei defectors who switched to Apple as Huawei. The Chinese tech giant’s phone sales rose 64% in the first six weeks of 2024, according to Counterpoint.
Notably, Huawei is not the only brand that is challenging Apple in China. Other domestic brands from Xiaomi to Oppo have been slowly pushing into the high-end market but at cheaper prices.
With reports stating that in the Chinese domestic market, there is growing evidence that the monopoly advantage of Western companies in the mid-to-high-end sector has gradually been broken, it is not much of a surprise that Apple is on a mission to deepen its Asian expansion.