Apple's Sales Drop in China Means $5 Billion in Lost Revenue

Country has been central to Apple CEO Cook’s strategy
IPhone losing out to less-expensive smartphone brands

Junheng Li, JL Warren Capital head of research, discusses Apple’s iPhone sales and the company’s future in China.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Nico Grant

January 29, 2019 at 9:40 PM UTC

Updated on

January 30, 2019 at 12:45 AM UTC

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Apple Inc.’s holiday sales decline reflected the iPhone maker’s lost ground in China amid an economic slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has seen China as a key part of Apple’s sales and manufacturing strategy, with the company generating almost $52 billion in revenue from China and Hong Kong last fiscal year. But with China announcing its slowest economic growth since 2009, Apple said its sales fell 27 percent in the holiday quarter -- representing almost $5 billion of lost revenue.