Four signs that Apple is declining

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Apple's stock price fell 2% this morning, and has fallen 10% since Apple released its third-quarter 2015 financial results on July 21.

Investors are very uneasy about this. BI, a mainstream American online media, has listed four major signs that suggest that Apple is on the decline.

1. Chinese smartphone makers are taking on Apple in China.

Data released by market research firm Canalys showed that in the second quarter, Xiaomi and Huawei accounted for one-third of all smartphone sales in the Chinese market, with each accounting for 16% of the market share, while Apple's share dropped to third place.

2. Shipments of all Apple’s mainstream products failed to meet expectations.

Investors expected the iPhone to be a hot seller in the second quarter, but Apple only shipped 47.5 million units, less than the expected 49 million units. Analysts at the US investment bank Cowen believe this is solid evidence of China's economic growth slowdown. This is definitely bad news for Apple, as it relies on the Chinese market to drive the next wave of iPhone sales growth.

3. Microsoft's new operating system Windows 10 will bring greater competitive pressure to iPad and Mac.

Analysts at Jeffries, a well-known Wall Street investment bank, tried Windows 10 on Microsoft's Surface 3 laptop last week and found it to be much better than Windows 8.

Windows 8 was a mess, and Microsoft gave Apple a few years of free run to build iPads and Macs. Now, that free run is over. Jeffries analysts also believe that Microsoft's virtual personal assistant Cortana will provide Microsoft with a greater advantage, while Apple is still lagging behind in this area.

4.What will be Apple’s main focus after the iPhone?

Apple Watch sales have surpassed the iPad compared to when Apple first launched the iPad, but after the initial boom, this sales trend will gradually stop.

Apple's streaming music service Apple Music has also received mixed reviews since its launch, including fierce criticism from many loyal Apple fans.

But it's worth noting that Apple is clearly a smartphone company, and if its iPhone sales begin to slow or even decline, the company's growth will stagnate.

Apple has quietly acknowledged this, with investment bank Morgan Stanley noting that “the vast majority of Apple’s net revenue comes from a single product, and this decline in demand for that product will have a huge impact on Apple’s quarterly net sales.”