Apple – one of the favorite stocks in the portfolios of readers – produced bad news yesterday. Therefore, I will once again focus on the company’s high value for you. The stock has now lost four days in a row. Is a crash imminent?

The China problem for Apple The problems or challenges are multifaceted. Apple itself is a very stable company, and bad news should not have a massive impact on the stock price. However, Apple has reportedly suffered a setback in China with iPhone sales: they decreased by 24%. This number naturally garnered attention.

The -24% refers to a six-week period starting on January 1st. This means that Apple has surpassed the market in a negative way. Smartphone sales in the economically struggling China have decreased by approximately 7%, causing Apple to suffer above-average losses.

The reason for the poor performance was apparently that there is a tougher competition, especially in the more expensive smartphone segment: the competitor Huawei has reportedly regained strength. This is the same Huawei that has been fiercely fought against in the West and has managed to establish itself in the expensive price segment. Other manufacturers like Xiaomi have made gains in the so-called mid-price segment.

The numbers are not alarming However, this is partly due to the statistics. Especially in the first six weeks of 2023, there were unusually high sales figures. Smartphone production had been reduced in the last quarter and especially in December 2022 due to problems, which in turn boosted sales figures at the beginning of 2023.

The valuation basis is distorted – which means that there is indeed pressure on Apple, but it is manageable. The economy in China is not booming, as the numbers also show. The company has also been punished for this.

But my conviction remains that Apple is not doing everything, but a lot, right. The company is now increasingly investing in AI. This will not show immediate effects, but with the large market that Apple serves, it will work in the medium term. The company continues to dominate its market in an unrivaled way. Fluctuations – both in the real world, here in China, and on the stock market – are part of it.

Apple: The problem in China – WKN: 865985 – ISIN: US0378331005 Source: https://fundamental.aktienscreener.com/US0378331005/EI/apple-inc/data