Apple Tops China Sales for 7 Consecutive Weeks: "Performance Expected to Improve Next Year"

"Buffett's Inclusion of TSMC Reflects Expanded Investment in Apple's Supply Chain"

On the 7th, when Apple's new iPhone 14 series was officially released in Korea, citizens were examining the products at the Apple Store in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] Apple’s new smartphone series, the iPhone 14, has secured the number one market share in China for seven consecutive weeks, leading securities firms to forecast a significant improvement in Apple’s performance in the first half of next year.

On the 19th, KB Securities analyzed, "The visibility of iPhone’s performance is expected to improve in the first half of next year."

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 16th, during the recent seven weeks (September 12 to October 30), the iPhone ranked first in both sales volume and market share in the Chinese market. KB Securities evaluated this as a favorable trend compared to last year’s iPhone 13 series.

KB Securities analyzed that Apple’s securing of the number one market share in China was influenced by the overall decline in shipments of Chinese smartphones, while iPhone sales increased by about 9% year-on-year. They added that unlike the iPhone 13 series, which only ranked first in sales during its first week of release last year, the iPhone 14 maintained the number one market share for seven weeks this year.

KB Securities forecasts a significant improvement in the visibility of iPhone’s performance next year. Although iPhone shipments are expected to decrease by about 8% from previous forecasts in the fourth quarter of this year due to production disruptions at the Zhengzhou factory in China, shipments in the first quarter of next year are estimated to increase by 13% from previous expectations due to deferred demand effects.

The expectation that the Chinese government will ease its zero-COVID policy starting next year and implement reopening (resumption of economic activities) policies is also positive. This is expected to stimulate smartphone replacement demand in the Chinese market going forward. Accordingly, KB Securities predicts that Apple’s market share growth trend will continue.

KB Securities also assessed positively the recent large-scale purchase of TSMC shares by Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, known as the "investment genius." According to major foreign media reports, Berkshire Hathaway disclosed on the 14th (local time) that it spent more than $4.1 billion (about 5.43 trillion KRW) purchasing TSMC shares in the third quarter. TSMC, the world’s largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturer), produces the application processors (AP) for the iPhone.

KB Securities analyzed that Berkshire Hathaway’s purchase of TSMC shares indicates that Buffett’s investment portfolio has expanded from being Apple-centered to including the iPhone parts supply chain. They cited as commonalities between Apple and TSMC their maintenance of absolute market dominance despite a high sales proportion from a single product and their share of 80% of global profits in their respective industries.

Researcher Dongwon Kim of KB Securities explained, "Berkshire Hathaway’s inclusion of TSMC is judged to be evidence of confidence in the future expansion of Apple’s market dominance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.