Apple’s rank on Chinese consumer brands preference fell from 11th last year to 24th this year. Ironically enough, analysts say the U.S. brand Apple has been hit by the U.S.-China trade war.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Apple’s ranking fell again after falling from fifth in 2017 to 11th in 2018. According to the study made by brand and marketing firm, Prophet.
There are only two U.S. companies ranked in the top 10 in the survey. They were Android (3rd) and Intel (9th). In contrast, U.S. brands such as Android, Apple, Nike, Estee Lauder and Marriott took the top half of the list in 2017.
How U.S. ‘attack’ impacted Chinese consumer preference
Experts analyzed that U.S. brands will face a crisis for at least the next two years. And this is all because of the U.S.-China trade war U.S. President Donald Trump himself has declared.
“It seems that the sanctions against Huawei have affected,” said Jay Milliken, a senior partner of Prophet in Hongkong. “Chinese consumers have begun to show nationalist movements by interpreting it (the U.S. ban) as an ‘attack’ on Huawei.”
Chinese consumers’ “patriotic consumption” has raised the ranking of Chinese brands. Above all, Alipay placed first at the list. While Huawei came in at the second place.
Apparently, U.S. might not be getting out of this trade war unscathed. As a massive country, China is one of the biggest market in the world. And Apple is one of the first companies to feel the slap.
Chinese sportswear maker Li Ning entered the top 40 for the first time. On the other hand, Nike ranked 32nd, a significant drop from the previous year. Li Ning introduced a product using red, symbolizing China, at the 2018 New York Fashion Week.
Prophet surveyed 13,500 consumers in big cities in China for their preference for 258 brands. The rankings were based on results that consumers evaluated on criteria such as innovation, usefulness and reliability.
