Apple's China sales Suggest Apple is Losing Battle to its Rivals

The worst news Apple could hear is that its sales which were towering high with every
 passing day have started their downward move as is shown by the latest graphs and latest disappointment came to Apple’s share when Apple’s China sales suggest that its customers will not always wait for the next iPhone as Apple grasped accumulated a total $5.7 billion for its third quarter ended June, an unexpectedly steep drop of $2.2 billion from the January-March period.

The downward trend was noted on the eve of release of iPad 3 launch in China last week. Some analysts have raised the question: "The (iPhone 4S) model is a little bit too long in the tooth when compared to other phones with better specs. To put it plainly, consumers are getting a little bit tired of the look of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S."

Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, told analysts that about half of the quarter-to-quarter decline stemmed from "changes in the inventory channel" rather than weak sales of its iPhone 4S, which analysts took to mean that Apple had built up excess inventory in the first three months of the year.

The iPhone 5 is expected to be released later this year, with enhanced Chinese language capabilities, so that likely contributed to resellers' slower orders of the 4S as well. Consumers in China, which has the world's largest number of mobile subscribers, were spoilt for choice with a slew of new phones available over the past few months from brands such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and HTC Corp.

Samsung, which flagged a record quarterly profit of $5.9 billion earlier this month, saw stronger-than-expected demand for its latest Galaxy S III model, while HTC's One X also gained popularity among phone users globally, including the greater China region.

"The S III and One X are outselling the iPhone now because people like their wider screens, better cameras and the apps are pretty good," said a salesperson at an electronics store in Hong Kong that carries phones from Apple, Samsung, HTC and Nokia Ojy.

The iPhone 5 version of Siri will have those language skills, and that is why Apple’s china sales are dropping.
"Since iPhone 5 will come out soon, operators don't want to buy in any more iPhone 4S as they will add to the inventory," said Ming Chi Kuo, an analyst from KGI Securities.