Apple Sales Fall as iPhone, China Businesses Remain Sluggish


尽管如此，苹果公司股价在盘后交易中仍上涨逾7%，该公司授权回购1,100亿美元股票，并暗示当前财季的收入将实现增长。


苹果在上海的旗舰店。

苹果公司(Apple)的财季收入在过去六个财季中第五次下降，受到iPhone销售下滑和来自中国智能手机竞争对手的新竞争拖累。 6park.com
Apple’s revenue declined for the fifth time in the past six quarters, dragged down by ailing iPhone sales and new competition from smartphone rivals in China. 6park.com
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尽管如此，苹果公司股价在盘后交易中仍上涨了逾7%，该公司授权回购1,100亿美元股票，并暗示当前财季的收入将实现增长。此外，虽然截至3月当季销售额和利润均有所下降，但表现略好于分析师的预期。 6park.com
Still, shares of Apple rose more than 7% in after-market trading as the company authorized $110 billion in stock buybacks and signaled that the current quarter is likely to see revenue growth. Also, while sales and profits fell in the March quarter, the numbers were slightly better than analyst expectations. 6park.com
   
苹果公司正遭遇多方面的问题。该公司最重要的业务iPhone面临增长乏力的困境。近年来，苹果公司通过引导消费者购买价格更高的 “Pro ”手机取得了成功。该公司最新推出的iPhone 15 Pro Max起售价1,200 美元，是有史以来最昂贵的手机。但是，这种高端策略对该公司整体收入的支撑作用已较以前减弱。 6park.com
Apple is struggling on a number of fronts. The company’s single most important business—the iPhone—has faced sluggish growth. In recent years, Apple has seen success by steering consumers toward its more expensive “Pro”-designated phones. Its latest iPhone 15 Pro Max was its most expensive ever with a starting price of $1,200. But this premium strategy isn’t propping up overall revenue as much as it did in the past. 6park.com
 
研究公司国际数据公司(IDC)的数据显示，今年前三个月，三星(Samsung)夺回了全球智能手机市场份额第一的宝座。苹果公司今年前三个月的iPhone出货量同比下滑近10%，而整个智能手机市场同比增长8%左右。苹果公司曾在2023年年底短暂成为全球第一大智能手机供应商。 6park.com
For the first three months of the year, Samsung reclaimed the number one spot for worldwide smartphone market share, according to research firm IDC. Apple’s iPhone unit shipments slipped nearly 10% for the quarter over the previous year, while the total smartphone market expanded about 8% annually. Apple had briefly become the number one smartphone vendor near the end of 2023. 6park.com
 
最近一个财季，苹果公司的iPhone销售额同比下降10.5%，至460亿美元，符合分析师的预期。 6park.com
In the most recent quarter, iPhones sales declined 10.5% from the prior year to $46 billion, in line with analyst projections. 6park.com
  
一些投资者表示，他们此前已预计苹果公司第二财季收入会出现下滑，但当季的实际结果并没有预期的那么糟糕。“我们主要期待的是硬件业务和iPhone某种形式的稳定，”苹果公司股东Johnson Investment Counsel的首席投资官Charles Rinehart说。“iPhone虽然下滑了一些，但保持了盈利能力。” 6park.com
Some investors said they had expected declines in revenue in the quarter, but these results weren’t as bad as anticipated. “The main thing we’re looking for is some form of stability in the hardware and iPhone,” said Charles Rinehart, chief investment officer at Johnson Investment Counsel, an Apple shareholder. “The iPhone is down a bit, but it held on to their profitability.” 6park.com
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苹果公司在其第三大市场中国市场的困境受到许多股东关注。中国本土领军企业华为(Huawei)自从重新进入高端手机领域以来，发展势头迅猛。根据Counterpoint Research的数据，华为在中国的智能手机销量比上年增长近70%，而苹果公司的销量则下降了19%。 6park.com
Challenging conditions in China, Apple’s third-largest market, have been an area of concern for many shareholders. Huawei, China’s homegrown champion, has been rapidly gaining ground since getting back into high-end phones. In China, Huawei’s smartphone sales rocketed up nearly 70% from the previous year, while Apple’s sales fell 19%, according to Counterpoint Research. 6park.com
 
中国政府一直在鼓励这一趋势。去年年底，中国政府禁止政府官员在工作场所使用iPhone。 6park.com
The Chinese government has been encouraging this trend. Late last year, the Chinese government imposed bans on the iPhone for government officials in the workplace. 6park.com
 
苹果公司首席财务官Luca Maestri在接受采访时说：“中国是世界上竞争最激烈的市场，我们对我们的地位有信心。” 6park.com
“China is the most competitive market in the world and we feel confident about our position,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, in an interview. 6park.com
 
苹果公司首席执行官库克(Tim Cook)似乎回击了外界对iPhone中国销售下降的估计。苹果公司在其所称的“大中华区”的整体收入下降8%，降至164亿美元。库克说，当季iPhone在中国大陆实现了增长。他没有提供详细的财务或销售数字。大中华区包括中国大陆、台湾、香港和澳门。 6park.com
Chief Executive Tim Cook appeared to push back against external estimates showing declines in iPhone sales in China. Apple’s overall revenue in what it calls “Greater China” fell by 8% to $16.4 billion. Cook said that “iPhone grew in mainland China” for the quarter. He didn’t provide detailed financial or sales figures. The Greater China region includes mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. 6park.com
 
中国需求放缓是苹果公司此前几次销售下滑的原因之一。2016财年和2019财年，该公司大中华区的销售曾分别下降17.41%和15.91%。 6park.com
Slowing Chinese demand has played a role in previous slumps for Apple. In the company’s fiscal 2016 and 2019, sales in its Greater China unit declined 17.41% and 15.91%, respectively. 6park.com
 
库克在2019年初给投资者的信中写道：“我们没有预见到经济减速的程度，尤其是在大中华区。” 6park.com
“We did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China,” Cook wrote to investors in early 2019. 6park.com
 
苹果公司当季销售额为907.5亿美元，同比下降4.3%。利润下降2.2%，至236亿美元。 苹果公司的服务业务收入增长14.2%，至238.7亿美元，该业务包括App Store销售额，以及来自音乐、电视和其他产品的订阅收入。 6park.com
For the quarter, Apple sales were $90.75 billion, down 4.3% from the prior year, and profit fell 2.2% to $23.6 billion. Revenue from Apple’s services business, which includes App Store sales and subscription revenue from music, TV and other offerings, grew 14.2% to $23.87 billion. 6park.com
 
苹果公司表示，预计4月至6月财季整体销售额的百分比增幅为“低个位数”。 6park.com
Apple said it expects overall sales growth in the April-to-June quarter be in the “low single digits” percentage-wise. 6park.com
 
该公司没有透露将在哪段时间内回购1,100亿美元的股票。自2018年以来，苹果公司每季度回购约200亿美元的股票。 6park.com
The company didn’t disclose over what period it would buy back the $110 billion in shares. Apple has repurchased around $20 billion in shares per quarter since 2018. 6park.com
  
美国和欧洲的反垄断执法机构也加强了对苹果公司市场竞争地位的审视。今年3月，美国司法部起诉苹果公司，指控该公司非法垄断美国智能手机市场。在欧洲，新的法律有可能打破苹果公司封闭的应用程序生态系统，地区反垄断监管机构已经开始调查苹果公司遵守新法律的情况。苹果公司计划抵御这些监管努力。 6park.com
Antitrust enforcers in the U.S. and Europe have also ramped up scrutiny of Apple’s competitive position in the market. In March, the Justice Department sued Apple in March, alleging the company maintains an illegal monopoly over the U.S. smartphone market. In Europe, new laws threaten to tear down Apple’s closed-app ecosystem, and the regional antitrust regulator has opened investigations into Apple’s compliance with the new law. Apple plans to defend itself against these regulatory efforts. 6park.com
 
苹果公司多年来唯一的新设备Vision Pro还要再过很多年才会对该公司的销售做出实质性贡献。今年2月，该公司取消了电动汽车项目，裁员614人。一些员工转岗至生成式人工智能(AI)部门。OpenAI的ChatGPT带火了生成式AI这项技术。 6park.com
Apple’s only new device in years, the Vision Pro, is many years from contributing meaningfully to company sales. The company in February canceled its electric-vehicle project, laying off 614 workers. Some employees were shifted toward work on generative artificial intelligence, technology popularized by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. 6park.com
 
库克已向投资者承诺，将发布该公司生态系统内新的AI创新。分析师认为这会在该公司6月份的年度开发者大会上发生。库克在苹果公司最近的年度股东大会上说：“我们还看到生成式AI令人难以置信的突破潜力，这也是我们目前在这一领域大力投资的原因。” 6park.com
With investors, Cook has promised to unveil new AI innovations within the company’s ecosystem, which analysts believe will happen at its annual June developers conference. “We also see incredible breakthrough potential for generative AI, which is why we’re currently investing significantly in this area,” Cook said at the company’s recent annual shareholder meeting. 6park.com
 
除了苹果公司自身的AI开发，该公司还可能正着眼于与谷歌(Google)及OpenAI的外部合作。 6park.com
In addition to Apple’s own AI developments, the company is also potentially looking at external partnerships with Google and OpenAI. 6park.com
 
AI最近已在推动科技公司的业绩。上周，微软(Microsoft)和谷歌母公司Alphabet股价跳涨，这两家公司公布，将斥资数以十亿美元计来满足对其产品中的AI的日益增长的需求。 6park.com
Artificial intelligence has been fueling tech earnings of late. Last week, shares of Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet jumped as the companies reported that they were spending billions to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence in their products. 6park.com
 
另一方面，Meta Platforms股票上周创下了18个月间最糟糕单日表现，那之前该公司公布了100亿美元的2024年资本支出预期，该公司正增进自己的AI能力。 6park.com
Meta Platforms, on the other hand, underwent its worst day for its stock in 18 months last week after the company announced a $10 billion in capital-expenditure projections for 2024 as it builds out its AI capabilities. 6park.com
 
今年早些时候，微软从苹果公司手中夺走了以市值计的全球最大公司桂冠，自那以来的几个月，微软的领先优势已扩大。微软股价目前较年初上涨5%，同期苹果公司股价下跌10%。 6park.com
Earlier this year, Microsoft took the crown from Apple as the world’s largest company by market capitalization, and its lead has grown in the months since. Microsoft’s stock is trading up 5% from the beginning of the year, while Apple’s stock is down 10% in the same period. 6park.com
 
在最新的iPhone 15的销售周期令人失望之后，投资者希望，这些AI相关消息的发布将带来iPhone销售的重振。 6park.com
Investors are hopeful that these AI announcements will lead to renewed iPhones sales after a disappointing sales cycle with the latest iPhone 15. 6park.com
 
“上三款iPhone并不令人兴奋，”苹果公司投资者Capital Investment Companies的副总裁Hal Eddins说。“但希望他们会为iPhone 16推出新的AI功能，好戏才会开始。” 6park.com
“The last three iPhones have not been exciting,” said Hal Eddins, vice president at Apple-investor Capital Investment Companies. “But hopefully with the iPhone 16 they roll out new AI features and it will be off to the races.”