Apple Faces Market Share Decline in China as Huawei and Competitors Surge
Recent reports on local smartphone shipments in China indicate a significant decline in Apple’s market share. According to findings from IDC and Canalys, vivo has emerged as the top-selling smartphone brand for the third quarter of 2024. Huawei and Xiaomi also saw substantial increases in their shipments, surpassing Apple, which struggled to match its success from the previous year.
Despite differences in data collection methods among analysts, the overall trend is clear: competition in the Chinese smartphone market is intensifying. The gap between the top and bottom brands in the top five has narrowed to just 5 percentage points, highlighting a tighter race among competitors.
In the third quarter of 2024, spanning July to September, vivo catered to a broad consumer base by offering a diverse range of products across various price segments. In contrast, Apple focused primarily on its latest iPhone 16 lineup.
Huawei capitalized on national pride to boost its sales, even in the face of restrictions due to US sanctions. Xiaomi employed a strategy of offering smartphones at lower prices and margins, while Honor made a notable entry into the market with its Magic Flip and Magic V3 foldable devices.
According to an IDC report, there has been a notable shift in consumer preferences toward higher-end devices. Shipments of smartphones priced above $600 rose to nearly 30%, while the share of premium devices priced between $400 and $600 dropped to 6.6%. This segment includes foldable smartphones, which experienced a 13.6% year-over-year growth in shipments.
In the foldable smartphone market, Huawei continues to lead with a commanding 41% market share, followed closely by Honor at 21.9%. The top five in this segment also includes Xiaomi, Samsung, and vivo.
ALSO READ:
