Bank of America Merrill Lynch: China remains a strong support for Apple's performance

Beijing time, January 13, "struggling" is a word that can be used to describe Apple's recent stock price. After several Wall Street banks lowered their iPhone sales expectations, Apple's stock price fell below $100 last week. But Bank of America Merrill Lynch released an investment report that brought good news to Apple from a very important market: China. A recent survey of more than 1,000 Chinese people conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed that in China, the iPhone is still the most popular mobile phone brand, and non-iPhone users are likely to buy iPhones in the next few years.

"The survey shows that a significant portion of respondents own both an iPhone and an iPad, which suggests that the Apple ecosystem is quite strong and sticky as many Apple users own more than one of its products," said a team of Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts led by Wamsi Mohan.

A team of analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that Apple's share in the Asian smartphone market has been increasing, and this trend is likely to continue. "When asked about the brand they might choose when buying their next (or first) mobile phone, 39% of respondents said they would buy an iPhone. Huawei is the second most popular brand, favored by 25% of respondents; the Samsung brand is favored by 17% of respondents."

Mobile phone brands used by respondents and brands they would consider switching to

Although some iPhone users said they would choose other brands the next time they buy a phone, Apple is still the winner overall. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said, "Among the respondents who already own an iPhone, about 19% said they would choose other brands the next time they buy a phone. Although this proportion seems high, Apple's market share will still grow. Among the respondents who do not currently own an iPhone, 32% said they would choose an iPhone the next time they buy a phone, which is good news for iPhone sales."

Brands considered by iPhone users and non-iPhone users

In addition, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey also showed that many Chinese smartphone users change their phones quite frequently. 37% of the respondents bought their phones less than one year ago, 57% planned to buy the next (or first) smartphone within the next year, and only 6% said they would wait three years or longer.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.