JPMorgan Affirms Optimism for Apple Amidst China’s Market Decline, Dismisses Concerns of Local Competition

JPMorgan has reaffirmed its ‘Overweight’ rating on Apple $AAPL, despite the company experiencing a notable downturn in iPhone shipments during February. The figures reveal a decline of 33% year-over-year (YoY) and 56% month-over-month (MoM), resulting in just 2.4 million units sold. This decline is more significant than the typical seasonal decrease of 20% MoM and contributes to a substantial 37% reduction year-to-date (YTD) compared to the same period last year.

The February statistics mirror a broader trend in China’s mobile phone market, where domestic shipments plummeted by 33% year-over-year (YoY) and 55% month-over-month (MoM). This suggests that the market could be in a phase of recalibration to address elevated inventory levels, rather than undergoing significant shifts in market share, particularly for Apple.

JPMorgan maintains its optimism regarding Apple, as they interpret the decline as part of the broader market trend in China rather than a signal of Apple losing market share to local competitors such as Huawei.