IPhone search traffic has been reduced by almost 50% in China; February sales were "catastrophic"

The 2018 iPhone range

Last quarter, Apple saw its business figure plummet under the effect of weak iPhone demand in China. And according to Longbow Research (via Bloomberg), the company based in Silicon Valley is still facing huge challenges in the market.

Search traffic is not the most accurate way to gauge demand, but drastic declines are usually a sign of less interest. According to Longbow, in the case of the Apple iPhone, the volume of research in China has decreased significantly from one year to the next. In fact, in January, the number of smartphone searches in the country rose to half what it was twelve months ago. Similarly, in February, traffic via the search engine Baidu had decreased by 47%.

Some analysts are more optimistic about the prospects for the iPhone in China, but Longbow says Chinese sales in February were "catastrophic" and continued to decelerate. To put this in perspective, out of 42 declared suppliers, 37 reportedly recorded "worse sales than seasonal sales" in February.

In the current state of things, Apple has not yet commented on its performance in China throughout this quarter. However, as of April 30, the Cupertino giant should provide an update on the situation as a whole – the quarterly results of the company are expected that day.