Apple’s iPhone global sales declined by 4% in February, with a significant 33% drop in the Chinese market.

UBS analysts estimate that in February this year, due to the weak performance of the US and Chinese markets, global iPhone sales were about 17.4 million units, a 4% decrease compared to the same period last year.

According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Apple’s smart phone shipments in China in February were approximately 2.4 million units, a significant year-on-year decline of 33%. Although the decline has narrowed compared to 39% in January, the latest data is still darker than some market analyses.

In addition, a report released by Counterpoint Research in early March this year pointed out that iPhone sales in China declined by 24% in the first six weeks of the year. UBS analysts noted: “In February, the sales of local brand smart phones such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo showed strong year-on-year growth, resulting in a 16% year-on-year decline in iPhone sales.” They also added that in the Chinese market in February, iPhone’s market share was about 15%, a 6.5 percentage point decrease compared to the same period last year.

In the US market, due to the sluggish upgrade rate of operators and the strong performance of the Samsung S24 series, iPhone sales in February declined by 9% year-on-year, with a market share of about 48%, a 3.5 percentage point decrease from the previous year.

Looking ahead, analysts maintain their forecast of iPhone sales in the March quarter of this year at 51 million units. Given that sales in January and February in recent years account for about 70% of the March quarter, UBS estimates that iPhone sales in the March quarter of this year will reach about 54 million units, lower than the 56 million units in the same period last year.

The UBS team also said: “Considering that about 5 million iPhones were used to replenish channel inventories last year, combined with the current market demand and channel inventory situation, we believe that the sales forecast of 51 million units in this quarter is reasonable.”